AMERJCAN 
FOOTBALL 


WALTEI\  CAMP 


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HECTOR   COWAN. 
Princeton, 


AMERICAN   FOOTBALL 


BY 


WALTER  CAMP 


WITH    THIRTY-ONE   PORTRAITS 


NEW    YORK 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  FRANKLIN  SQUARB 

189I 


Copyright,  1891,  by  Harper  &  Brothers. 
AU  riyhtt  rtterved. 


PREFACE. 

The  progress  of  the  sport  of  football  in 
this  country,  and  a  corresponding  growth  of 
inquiry  as  to  the  methods  adopted  by  expe- 
rienced teams,  have  prompted  the  publica- 
tion of  this  book.  Should  any  of  the  sug- 
gestions herein  contained  conduce  to  the 
further  popularity  of  the  game,  the  object 
of  the  writer  will  be  attained. 


CONTENTS. 

VZ^  PAGE 

-7^  English  and  American  Rugby     .    .       i 

End  Rusher •  .     .     23 

The  Tackle 39 

The  Guard 53 

The  Centre,  or  Snap-back,  ^  ...     67 

The  Quarter-back 79 

The  Half-back  and  Back   ....    91 

Signals 115 

Training 131 

A  Chapter  for  Spectators    .     .     .165 


LIST  OF  PORTRAITS. 

[P.  stands  for  Princeton,  Y.  for  Yale,  and  H.  for  Harvard.] 

Hector  Cowan,  p Frontispiece. 

Harry  W.  Beecher,  Y.    .    .    .    Facing  p.  \ 

Henry  C.  Lamar,  p "  8 

D.  S.  Dean",  h "  12 

E.  L.  Richards,  Jr.,  y  .    .    .    .  "  16 

W.  A.  Brooks,  h "  20 

R.  S.  Channing,  p "  28 

L.  K.  Hull,  y "  32 

E.  A.  POE,  p "  36 

Everett  J,  Lake,  h "  44 

Wyllys  Terry,  y "  48 

B,  W.  Trafford,  h "  56 

T.  L.  McClung,  y "  60 

V.  M.  Harding,  h "  64 

Jesse  Riggs,  p.    .....    ,  "  72 

W.  H.  Corbin,  y "  76 

Alexander  Moffatt,  p  .    .    ,  •'  84 


VUl  LIST   OF    PORTRAITS. 

Ralph  Warren,  p Facing  p.  88 

John  Corbett,  h.    .    .    .    .    .  "  96 

W.  Bull,  y "  icxj 

Knowlton  L.  Ames,  p .    ...  "  104 

W.  C.  Rhodes,  y "  112 

P.  D.  Trafford,  h "  120 

R.  Hodge,  p "  124 

H.  H.  Knapp,  y "  128 

A.  J.  Cumnock,  h "  136 

Jeremiah  S.  Black,  p    .    .    .  "  140 

C.  O.  Gill,  Y "  150 

E.  C.  Peace,  p "  156 

W.  Heffelfinger,  Y "  1.60 

R.  M.  Appleton,  h "  168 


ENGLISH  AND  AMERICAN  RUGBY 


AMERICAN  FOOTBALL. 


Rugby  football — for  it  is  from  the 
Rugby  Union  Rules  that  our  American 
Intercollegiate  game  was  derived — dates 
its  present  era  of  popularity  from  the 
formation  in  England,  in  1871,  of  a 
union  of  some  score  of  clubs.  Nearly 
ten  years  before  this  there  had  been 
an  attempt  made  to  unite  the  vari- 
ous diverging  football  factions  under  a 
common  set  of  laws ;  but  this  proved  a 
failure,  and  the  styles  of  play  became 
farther  and  farther  apart.  Of  the  Asso- 
ciation game  one  can  say  but  little  as 
regards  its  American  following.     It  is 


4  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

quite  extensively  played  in  this  coun- 
try, but  more  by  those  who  have  them- 
selves played  it  in  Great  Britain  than 
by  native-born  Americans.  Its  popu- 
larity is  extending,  and  at  some  day  it 
will  very  likely  become  as  well  under- 
stood in  this  country  as  the  derived 
Rugby  is  to-day.  Its  essential  charac- 
teristic is,  that  it  is  played  with  the  feet, 
in  distinction  from  the  Rugby,  in  which 
the  ball  may  be  carried  in  the  hands. 

To  revert  to  the  Rugby  Union. 
Years  before  the  formation  of  this  as- 
sociation the  game  was  played  by  sides 
almost  unlimited  in  numbers.  One  of 
the  favorite  school  matches  was  "  Sixth 
form  against  all  the  rest  of  the  school." 
Twenty  on  a  side,  however,  became  the 
ruling  number;  but  this  was,  after  a 
time,  replaced  by  fifteens,  as  the  days 
of  twenties  proved  only  shoving  match- 
es.    With   the    reduction    in    numbers 


HARRY  W,  BEECHER. 

Yale. 


ENGLISH    AND   AMERICAN    RUGBY.  5 

came  increased  running  and  an  added 
interest.  This  change  to  fifteens  was 
made  in  1877,  ^^  the  request  of  Scot- 
land. At  once  there  followed  a  more 
open  style  of  play,  and  before  long  short 
passing  became  common.  In  1882  the 
Oxford  team  instituted  the  long  low 
pass  to  the  open,  and  by  the  use  of 
it  remained  undefeated  for  three  sea- 
sons. 

After  the  decrease  to  fifteen  men  the 
number  of  three-quarter-backs,  who  real- 
ly represent  our  American  half-backs, 
was  increased  from  one  to  two,  and  two 
full-backs  were  played.  A  little  later 
British  captains  put  another  full-back 
up  into  the  three-quarter  line,  playing 
with  only  one  full-back. 

The  Englishmen  also  play  two  men 
whom  they  call  half-backs,  but  whose 
duties  are  like  those  of  our  quarter-back, 
for  they  seize  the  ball  when  it  comes  out 


6  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

of  the  scrimmage  and  pass  it  to  a  three- 
quarter  for  a  run. 

Nine  men  is  the  usual  number  for  an 
English  rush  line,  although  a  captain  will 
sometimes  take  his  ninth  rusher  back  as 
a  fourth  three-quarter-back.  There  is 
much  discussion  as  to  when  this  should 
be  done.  The  captain  selects  his  men 
much  as  we  do  in  America,  and  he  is 
generally  himself  a  player  of  some  posi- 
tion behind  the  line,  centre  three-quarter 
being  preferred.  The  opening  play  in 
an  English  Rugby  game  is,  as  a  rule,  a 
high  kick  well  followed  up.  If  one  will 
bear  in  mind  that  the  half  backs  are,  like 
our  quarter,  the  ones  to  seize  the  ball 
when  it  emerges  from  a  scrimmage  and 
pass  it  to  the  three-quarters,  he  will  gain 
some  idea  of  the  character  of  the  English 
method.  He  should  understand,  howev- 
er, that  the  English  half-back  is  obliged 
to  look  out  sharply  for  the  ball,  because 


•  ENGLISH   AND   AMERICAN    RUGBY,  7 

it  comes  out  by  chance  and  at  random, 
and  not  directly  as  in  our  game,  where 
the  quarter  can  usually  expect  to  re- 
ceive the  ball  without  trouble  from  the 
snap-back. 

The  forwards  in  an  English  match 
endeavor,  when  a  scrimmage  occurs,  by 
kicking  and  pushing  to  drive  the  ball  in 
the  direction  of  their  opponents'  goal 
line,  and  they  become  extremely  expert 
in  the  use  of  their  feet.  There  are  two 
umpires,  whose  duty  it  is  to  make  claims 
(which  they  do  by  raising  their  flags), 
and  a  referee,  who  allows  or  disallows 
these  claims.  The  penalty  for  fouls, 
which  was  at  first  only  a  down,  is  now 
in  many  cases  a  free  kick. 

The  American  game,  it  must  be  re- 
membered, came  from  the  Rugby  Union 
in  1875,  and  not  from  the  Rugby  Union 
of  to-day,  although  the  changes  in  the 
English  game  have  been  by  no  manner 


8  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

of  means  commensurate  with  those  made 
on  this  side  the  water.  Being  bound  by 
no  traditions,  and  having  seen  no  play, 
the  American  took  the  English  rules  for 
a  starting-point,  and  almost  immediately 
proceeded  to  add  and  subtract,  according 
to  what  seemed  his  pressing  needs.  And 
they  were  many.  A  favored  few,  whose 
intercourse  with  Canadian  players  had 
given  them  some  of  the  English  ideas, 
were  able  to  explain  the  knotty  points 
to  a  small  degree,  but  not  enough  to  real- 
ly assist  the  mass  of  uninitiated  play- 
ers to  an  understanding.  Misinterpre- 
tations were  so  numerous  as  to  render 
satisfactory  rulings  almost  out  of  the 
question  and  explanatory  legislation  im- 
perative. In  the  autumn  of  1876  the 
first  game  under  Rugby  rules  between 
American  colleges  was  played  at  New 
Haven,  and  before  another  was  attempt- 
ed a  convention  had  tried  its  hand  at 


HENRY   C,  LAMAR. 
Priuceton. 


ENGLISH   AND   AMERICAN    RUGBV.  9 

correcting  the  weak  points,  as  they  ap- 
peared to  the  minds  of  the  legislators, 
in  the  Rugby  Union  Rules. 

The  feature  of  the  American  game  in 
distinction  from  the  English  is,  just  as 
it  was  within  a  year  from  the  time  of 
the  adoption  of  the  sport,  the  outlet  of 
the  scrimmage. 

In  this  lies  the  backbone  to  which  the 
entire  body  of  American  football  is  at- 
tached. The  English  half-backs  stand' 
outside  the  scrimmage,  and  when  the  ball 
pops  out  it  is  their  duty  to  seize  it  and 
pass  it  out  to  a  three-quarter,  who  runs 
with  it.  The  American  quarter -back 
stands  behind  the  scrimmage  and  gives 
a  signal,  immediately  after  which  he 
knows  the  ball  will  come  directly  into 
his  hands  to  be  passed  for  a  run  or  a 
kick.  What  is,  therefore,  in  the  English 
game  a  matter  of  considerable  chance 
is   "  cut -and -dried"  in  the  American 


lO  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

game ;  and  the  element  of  chance  being 
ehminated,  opportunity  is  given  for  the 
display  in  the  latter  game  of  far  more 
skill  in  the  development  of  brilliant  plays 
and  carefully  planned  manoeuvres. 

The  Americans  started  with  the  Eng- 
lish scrimmage,  kicked  at  the  ball,  and 
pushed  and  scrambled  for  a  season,  un- 
til it  was  discovered  that  a  very  clever 
manifestation  of  the  play  was  to  let  the 
opponents  do  the  kicking — in  fact,  to 
leave  an  opening  at  the  proper  moment 
through  which  the  ball  would  come,  and 
a  man  a  few  feet  behind  this  opening 
could  always  get  the  ball  and  pass  it 
while  the  men  who  kicked  it  were  still 
entangled  in  the  scrimmage.  After  a 
little  of  this,  no  one  was  anxious  to  kick 
the  ball  through,  and  the  rushers  began 
to  roll  the  ball  sidewise  along  between 
the  lines.  Then  almost  immediately  it 
was  discovered  that  a  man  could  snap 


ENGLISH   AND   AMERICAN    RUGBY,         II 

the  ball  backwards  with  his  toe,  and  the 
American  outlet  was  installed. 

At  first  the  play  was  crude  in  the  ex- 
treme, but  even  in  its  earliest  stages  it 
proved  distinctly  more  satisfactory  to 
both  player  and  spectator  than  the  kick- 
ing and  shoving  which  marked  the  Eng- 
lish method. 

The  same  man  did  not  always  snap 
the  ball  back  as  he  does  now,  but  any 
one  of  the  rushers  would  do  it  upon  oc- 
casion. The  men  did  not  preserve  their 
relative  positions  in  the  line,  and  any 
one  of  the  men  behind  the  line  would 
act  as  a  quarter-back.  Such  a  condition 
of  affairs  could  not,  however,  last  long 
where  intercollegiate  rivalry  proved  such 
an  incentive  to  the  perfection  of  play, 
and  the  positions  of  centre-rush  or  snap- 
back  and  quarter-back  became  the  most 
distinctive  of  any  upon  the  field.  The 
centre-rush  at  that  time  was  selected 


12  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

more  for  his  agility,  strange  to  say,  than 
for  his  weight  and  strength  ;  but  in  case 
he  was  a  Hght  man  he  was  ahvays  flanked 
by  two  heavy  guards.  One  season's  play 
convinced  all  captains  that  the  centre 
section  of  the  forward  line  must  be 
heavy,  and  if  any  light-weights  were  to 
be  used  among  the  rushers  they  should 
be  near  the  wings. 

Quarter-back  has,  from  the  very  out- 
set, been  a  position  in  which  a  small  man 
can  be  used  to  great  advantage.  The  half- 
backs and  backs  have  usually  been  men 
of  speed  coupled  with  skill  as  kickers. 

The  number  originally  adopted  for 
matches  in  this  country  was  eleven  ori 
a  side.  From  some  silly  notion  that  it 
would  increase  the  skill  displayed,  this 
number  was  changed  to  fifteen,  although 
the  Englishmen  were  moving  in  the 
other  direction  by  reducing  their  num- 
bers from  twenties  to  fifteens.     A  year 


ENGLISH   AND   AMERICAN    RUGBY.        1 3 

or  two  of  fifteen  on  a  side  drove  the 
American  players  back  to  elevens,  and 
there  the  number  has  rested. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  sport,  while 
the  players  individually  were  coura- 
geous, the  team  play  was  cowardly ;  that 
is,  the  tacticians  were  so  taken  up  with 
a  study  of  defence — how  to  protect  the 
goal — that  the  attack  was  weak.  The 
direct  result  of  this  was  to  place  too  few 
men  in  the  forward  line  and  too  many 
behind  it.  If  to-day  we  were  to  revert 
to  fifteen  on  a  side,  there  is  little  doubt 
that  we  should  throw  eleven  of  them  up 
into  the  rush  line,  and  upon  occasion 
even  twelve.  We  now  realize  that  the 
best  defence  does  not  consist  in  plan- 
ning how  to  stop  a  man  after  he  has  ob- 
tained a  fair  start  towards  the  goal,  but 
in  throwing  all  available  force  up  against 
him  before  he  can  get  free  of  the  for- 
ward line.     The  only  way  to  effectively 


14  AMERICAN   FOOTBALL. 

defeat  this  aggressive  defence  is  by 
means  of  skilled  kicking.  It  is  possible 
with  really  good  kickers  to  throw  a 
team  playing  in  this  fashion  into  dis- 
order by  well-placed  and  long  punting, 
followed  up  most  sharply;  but  it  re- 
quires nerve  and  an  unfailing  accuracy 
of  aim  and  judgment. 

It  is  only  a  few  years  ago  that  it  re- 
quired considerable  argument  to  con- 
vince a  captain  that  he  could  with  safe- 
ty send  one  of  his  halves  up  into  the 
forward  line  when  his  opponents  had 
the  ball ;  but  it  will  take  better  kicking 
than  is  exhibited  in  most  of  the  cham- 
pionship matches  to  frighten  that  half- 
back out  of  the  line  now.  Even  the 
quarter  was  wont  upon  occasion  to  drop 
back  among  the  halves  and  assist;  them 
rather  than  the  rushers. 

All  the  tendency  for  the  last  two 
years  has  been  towards  diminishing  the 


ENGLISH   AND  AMERICAN    RUGBY.        1 5 

number  of  men  held  in  reserve,  as  it 
were,  behind  the  Hne,  and  increasing  by 
this^means  the  crushing  force  by  which 
the  forwards  might  check  either  runner 
or  kicker  before  his  play  could  be  exe- 
cuted. 

Should  the  English  ever  adopt  an 
outlet  for  their  scrimmage,  making  the 
play  as  direct  as  is  ours,  their  men  would 
gravitate  to  the  forward  line  as  rapidly 
as  have  our  players. 

Next  to  the  difference  in  scrimmage 
outlet  between  our  game  and  that  of 
the  British  stands  a  much  more  recent 
development,  which  we  call  interference. 
This  is  the  assistance  given  to  a  runner 
by  a  companion  or  companions  who  go 
before  him  and  break  a  path  for  him  or 
shoulder  off  would-be  tacklers.  This,  to 
the  Englishman,  would  be  the  most  de- 
testable kind  of  off-side  play,  and  not 
tolerated  for  an  instant  upon  any  field 
in  the  United  Kingdom, 


l6  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

Even  into  this  the  Americans  did  not 
plunge  suddenly,  but  rather  little  by  lit- 
tle they  stepped  in,  until  it  was  neces- 
sary to  do  one  of  two  things  —  either 
legalize  what  was  being  tacitly  consent- 
ed to,  or  penalize  it  heavily.  The  re- 
sult was  that  it  was  legalized.  With 
this  concession,  though,  there  went  a 
certain  condition  which  gained  a  meas- 
ure of  confidence  for  the  new  ruling. 

To  understand  just  how  this  state  of 
affairs  above  mentioned  came  about  one 
should  know  that,  in  the  attempt  to 
block  opponents  when  the  quarter-back 
was  receiving  and  passing  the  ball,  the 
forwards  fell  into  the  habit  of  extend- 
ing their  arms  horizontally  from  the 
shoulder,  as  by  this  method  each  man 
could  cover  more  space.  For  a  number 
of  years  this  went  on  without  detriment 
to  the  sport  in  any  way,  but  after  a 
time  there  was  more  or  less  complaint 


E.  L.   RICHARDS. 
Yale. 


ENGLISH   AND   AMERICAN    RUGBY.         1 7 

of  holding  in  the  line,  and  it  was  ruled 
that  a  man  must  not  change  his  position 
after  the  ball  was  snapped,  nor  bend  his 
arms  about  an  opponent  at  such  a  time. 
Unfortunately  the  referee  (for  at  this 
stage  of  the  game  there  was  no  umpire) 
could  not  watch  the  ball  and  the  play- 
ers with  sufficient  care  to  enforce  this 
ruling,  and  the  temper  of  the  players 
suffered  accordingly.  It  is  always  the 
case  when  a  rule  is  not  enforced  un- 
flinchingly, no  matter  from  what  cause, 
that  both  sides  suffer,  and  the  tendency 
always  is  towards  devising  additional  in- 
fringements. The  additional  infringe- 
ment in  this  instance  was  even  worse 
than  could  have  been  foreseen  ;  for,  not 
content  with  simply  blocking  or  even 
holding  an  opponent  until  the  quarter 
should  have  passed  the  ball  in  safety, 
the  players  in  the  forward  line  saw  an 
opportunity  for  going  a  step  farther, 
2 


15  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

and  actually  began  the  practice  of  seiz- 
ing an  opponent  long  after  the  ball  had 
been  played,  and  dragging  him  out  of 
the  way  of  the  running  half-back.  In 
the  thick  of  the  rush  line  this  was  fre- 
quently possible  without  risk  of  discov- 
ery by  the  referee ;  and,  emboldened  by 
successes  of  this  kind,  men  would  reach 
out  even  in  the  open,  and  drag  back  a 
struggling  tackier  just  as  he  was  about 
to  lay  his  hands  upon  the  runner.  It 
was  this  state  of  affairs  which  brought 
up  the  question,  "  How  much  should  a 
comrade  be  allowed  to  aid  the  run- 
ner?" 

American  football  legislators  answered 
this  question  satisfactorily,  after  long 
discussion,  by  determining  that  the  run- 
ner might  be  assisted  to  any  extent,  pro- 
vided the  assistant  did  not  use  his  hands 
or  arms  in  performing  this  office.  The 
first  result  of  this  was  to  lower  the  arms 


ENGLISH   AND   AMERICAN    RUGBY.        19 

of  the  rushers  when  lined  up,  and,  in 
spite  of  some  forebodings,  this  proved 
really  a  benefit  to  the  game.  The  sec- 
ond result  has  been  to  perfect  a  system 
of  flanking  a  runner  by  companions  who 
form  almost  an  impassable  barrier  at 
times  to  the  would-be  tacklers. 

At  the  same  time  with  mention  of  the 
solution  of  this  problem,  one  should 
also  call  attention  to  a  menace  which 
threatened  American  football  far  more 
seriously  than  did  this ;  and  that,  too, 
at  a  time  when  the  sport  was  by  no 
means  so  strong  in  years  or  popularity 
as  when  this  later  difficulty  arose.  I  re- 
fer to  the  "  block  game."  This  method 
of  play,  which  consisted  in  a  succession 
of  "  downs  "  without  advance  and  with- 
out allowing  the  opponents  any  chance 
of  securing  possession  of  the  ball,  proved 
a  means  by  which  a  weak  team  could 
avoid  defeat.     The  whole  object  of  the 


20  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

match  was  thus  frustrated,  the  game  re- 
sulting in  no  score. 

To  meet  this  difficulty  a  rule  was  in- 
troduced making  it  incumbent  upon  a 
side  to  advance  the  ball  five  yards  or  re- 
treat with  it  ten  in  three  "downs."  If 
this  advance  or  retreat  were  not  accom- 
plished, the  ball  went  at  once  into  the 
possession  of  the  opponents.  Never 
did  a  rule  in  any  sport  work  so  immedi-- 
ate  and  satisfactory  a  reform  as  did  this 
five-yard  rule. 

Within  the  last  few  years  there  has 
been  no  important  change  in  the  conduct 
of  the  American  game,  nor  in  the  rules. 
Outside  of  the  above-mentioned  points 
of  difference  between  it  and  the  Eng- 
lish game,  there  is  only  that  of  the  meth- 
ods of  enforcing  rules  and  determining 
differences.  The  English  have  a  refe- 
ree and  two  umpires,  although  the  um- 
pires are  sometimes  replaced  by  touch- 


W.  A.  BROOKS. 
Harvard. 


ENGLISH    AND   AMERICAN    RUGBY.         21 

Judges.  The  umpires  act,  as  did  the 
judges  in  our  game  of  ten  years  ago,  as 
advocates  for  their  respective  sides,  and 
it  is  this  advocacy  which  is  causing  them 
to  fall  into  disfavor  there  exactly  as 
they  did  here.  Touch-judges  merely 
watch  the  lines  of  the  field,  and  decide 
when  and  where  the  ball  goes  into 
touch.  In  cases  where  they  are  em- 
ployed, the  referee  renders  all  decisions 
upon  claim  of  the  -captains.  In  our 
method  there  is  a  division  of  labor,  but 
along  different  lines.  Our  two  officials, 
the  umpire  and  referee,  have  their  sepa- 
rate provinces,  the  former  ruling  upon 
the  conduct  of  players  as  to  off-side  and 
other  offences,  while  the  latter  deter- 
mines questions  of  fact  as  to  when  the 
ball  is  held  or  goes  into  touch,  also 
whether  a  goal  is  kicked  or  not.  As  the 
rule  has  it,  the  umpire  is  judge  for  the 
players,  and  the  referee  for  the  ball. 


END  RUSHER 


The  end  rusher  must  get  into  condi- 
tion early.  Unless  he  does,  he  cannot  han- 
dle the  work  that  must  fall  to  his  share, 
and  the  effect  of  a  poor  performance  by 
the  end  is  to  produce  disorder  at  once 
in  the  proportion  of  work  as  well  as  the 
quality  of  the  work  of  the  tackles  and 
half-backs.  This  is  not  well  understood 
by  captains  and  coaches,  but  it  is  easy 
to  see  if  one  follows  the  play.  A  tired 
end  rusher,  even  one  who  has  expe- 
rience and  a  good  idea  of  his  place,  will 
lope  down  the  field  under  a  kick,  and 
by  his  lack  of  speed  will  allow  a  return  ; 
and,  against  a  running  game,  while  he 
will,  it  is  true,  force  his  man  in,  he  will 
do  it  so  slowly  that  the  runner  is  en- 


26  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

abled  to  pass  the  tackle.  The  first 
will  surely  result  in  his  own  halves 
shortening  their  kicks,  and  the  second 
in  drawing  his  own  tackle  too  widely 
from  the  guard.  Both  these  results  se- 
riously affect  the  value  of  the  practice 
for  halves  and  tackles ;  consequently, 
the  end  must  be  put  in  condition  early. 
The  finer  points  of  his  position  can  be 
worked  up  gradually,  but  his  endurance 
must  be  good  at  the  outset,  in  order 
that  the  others  may  become  accustomed 
to  rely  upon  him  for  regular  work.  But 
it  sometimes  happens  that  the  captain 
or  coach  has  no  chance  to  make  sure  of 
this.  His  candidates  may  be  raw,  and 
only  appear  upon  the  first  day  of  fall 
practice.  In  that  case  there  is  a  method 
which  he  can  adopt  to  advantage,  and 
which  answers  the  purpose.  It  is  to 
play  his  candidates  for  that  position  one 
after    the   other    in    rotation,   insisting 


END    RUSHER.  27 

upon  hard  playing  even  if  it  be  for  only 
five  minutes  at  a  time.  In  this  way  not 
only  will  the  tackle  receive  the  proper 
support,  but  the  ends  themselves  will 
improve  far  more  rapidly  than  under 
the  usual  method.  Eveiy  player  upon 
a  team  has  to  labor  under  two  distinctly 
different  sets  of  circumstances :  one  set 
arising  from  the  possession  of  the  ball 
by  his  opponents,  and  the  other  from 
the  possession  of  the  ball  by  his  own 
side.  Many  an  error  in  instruction  or 
coaching  arises  from  terming  the  tactics 
adopted  under  these  two  conditions  de- 
fensive and  offensive.  It  is  no  uncom- 
mon thing  to  see  an  end  rusher,  who 
has  been  told  that  such  and  such  is  his 
defensive  play,  so  affected  by  the  word 
defensive,  as  applied  to  his  action,  as  to 
fail  entirely  to  perform  any  aggressive 
work  when  his  opponents  have  the  ball. 
And  a  similarly  undesirabk  state  of  af- 


28  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

fairs  is  brought  about  by  the  term  offen- 
sive when  his  own  side  have  the  ball. 
In  this  latter  case,  he  seems  inspired  to 
become  aggressive  in  his  conduct  tow- 
ards his  opponent  from  the  moment  the 
men  are  lined  up,  and  this  very  often 
leads  him  to  make  any  interference  of 
his  so  premature  as  to  render  it  useless 
towards  favoring  his  runner.  One  of 
the  first  things,  therefore,  for  a  coach  to 
tell  an  end  rusher  is  that  the  terms  of- 
fensive and  defensive,  as  applied  to  team 
work,  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  ag- 
gressiveness of  any  individual.  Then, 
as  a  matter  of  still  better  policy,  let  him 
avoid  using  these  terms  in  individual 
coaching. 

When  the  opponents  have  the  ball, 
the  end  rusher  must,  in  the  case  of  a 
kick,  do  his  utmost  to  prevent  his  vis-h- 
vis  from  getting  down  the  field  early 
under  the  ball.     That  is  the  cardinal 


R.  S.  CHANNING. 
Princeton. 


END    RUSHER.  29 

point,  and  it  is  not  necessary  for  him  to 
do  much  thinking  regarding  anything 
else  when  he  is  facing  a  kicking  game. 
When  his  opponents  are  about  to  make 
a  run,  the  situation  is  much  more  in- 
volved. He  must  then  consider  himself 
as  the  sole  guardian  of  that  space  of 
ground  extending  from  his  tackle  to  the 
edge  of  the  field,  and  he  must  begin  at 
the  touch  line  and  work  in.  That  is,  he 
must  remember  that,  while  on  one  side 
of  him  there  is  the  tackle,  who  will  do 
his  utmost  to  help  him  out,  there  is  on 
the  other  side — that  is,  towards  touch — 
no  one  to  assist  him,  and  a  run  around 
the  end  means  a  free  run  for  many 
yards.  "  Force  the  man  in  "  is  always 
a  good  motto  for  an  end,  and  one  he 
will  do  well  to  follow  conscientiously. 
To  force  the  man  in  does  not  mean, 
however,  to  stand  with  one  foot  on  the 
touch  line,  and  then  reach  in  as  far  as 


30  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

possible  and  watch  the  man  go  by,  as 
nine  out  of  every  ten  ends  have  been 
doing  for  two  years.  It  means,  go  at  the 
runner  with  the  determination  of  getting 
him  any  way,  but  taking  him  always 
from  the  out^de.  An  end  cannot  tackle 
as  occasionally  does  a  half-back  or  back, 
slowly  and  even  waiting  for  his  man, 
then  meeting  him  low  and  strong.  An 
end  always  has  to  face  interference,  and 
good  interference  will  bowl  over  a  wait- 
ing end  with  ease.  An  end  must  go  up 
as  far  and  fast  as  he  dares  to  meet  the 
runner,  and  when  his  moment  comes — 
which  must  be  a  selected  moment — he 
must  shoot  in  at  his  man,  reaching  him, 
if  possible,  with  his  shoulder,  and  at  the 
same  time  extending  his  arms  as  far 
around  him  as  possible.  Many  times 
this  reaching  enables  an  end  to  grasp 
his  man  even  though  a  clever  interferer 
break    the   force   of    his   tackle.     And 


END    RUSHER.  3 1 

when  his  fingers  touch  the  runner,  he 
must  grip  with  the  tenacity  of  the  bull- 
dog, and  never  let  go. 

It  seems  almost  unnecessary  to  say 
that  a  high  tackier  has  no  chance  what- 
ever as  an  end  rusher.  He  may  play 
guard  or  centre,  but  before  a  man  ever  es- 
says the  end  he  must  have  passed  through 
all  the  rudimentary  schooling  in  tackling, 
and  be  such  an  adept  that  to  pass  him 
without  the  assistance  of  the  most  clever 
interference  is  an  impossibility. 

An  end  should  be  a  good  follower ; 
that  is,  if  the  runner  make  in  towards 
the  tackle,  the  end  should  run  him  down 
from  behind  when  interference  cuts  off 
the  tackle.  This  is  one  of  the  best 
points  for  cultivation,  because  it  effect- 
ually prevents  any  dodging  by  the  run- 
ner. If  he  fail  to  take  his  opening 
cleanly,  a  following  end  is  sure  of  him. 
This  is  not  a  safe   point,  however,  to 


32  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

teach  until  the  player  has  fairly  mas- 
tered the  ordinary  end-work ;  for  the 
tendency  is  to  leave  his  own  position 
too  soon,  giving  the  runner  an  oppor- 
tunity to  turn  out  behind  him,  and  thus 
elude  the  tackle  without  difficulty. 

A  few  years  ago  there  was  quite  a 
fashion  for  the  man  putting  the  ball  in 
from  touch  to  run  with  it  along  the  edge 
of  the  field.  For  some  unknown  reason 
this  play  seems  to  have  been  abandoned, 
but  it  is  likely  at  any  time  to  be  revived, 
and  the  end  rusher  should  therefore  be 
posted  upon  the  modus  operandi  of  it, 
as  well  as  the  best  method  of  prevent- 
ing its  success.  The  most  popular  execu- 
tion of  this  manoeuvre  was  the  simplest ; 
that  is,  the  man  merely  touched  the  ball 
to  the  ground  and  plunged  ahead  as  far 
as  he  could  until  brought  to  earth  or 
thrown  out  into  touch.  This  was  ac- 
companied by  more  or  less  helpful  in- 


L.  K.  HULL. 
Yale. 


END    RUSHER.  33 

terferences  upon  the  part  of  his  own 
end  and  tackle.  There  were  more  in- 
tricate methods,  however;  and  surely, 
with  the  amount  of  interference  allowed 
in  these  days,  it  is  odd  that  the  side 
line  has  not  been  more  fancied  by  those 
who  have  generalled  the  great  games. 
There  was  one  team  a  few  years  ago 
whose  captain  used  to  deliberately  place 
the  ball  just  inside  the  line  on  the 
ground,  as  though  only  thoughtlessly 
leaving  it  there,  and  then  spring  in, 
crowding  the  end  rusher  three  or  four 
feet  from  the  touch  line,  while  a  run- 
ning half,  who  was  well  started,  came 
tearing  up  the  field,  seized  the  ball, 
and  usually  made  a  long  run  before  he 
was  stopped  by  the  astonished  halves. 
Many  also  were  the  combination  passes 
in  which  the  ball  was  handed  to  the  end 
rusher,  who,  turning  suddenly  with  his 
back  to  the  foes,  would  pass  to  his 
3 


34  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

quarter  or  running  half.  Of  these  close 
double  passes  at  the  edge  of  the  field 
the  most  effective  were  those  wherein 
the  runner  darted  by  just  inside  the 
touch  line,  and  the  weakest  the  ones 
wherein  the  attempt  was  made  to  ad- 
vance out  into  the  field.  For  this  rea- 
son there  ought  to  be  no  particular 
necessity  for  coaching  any  but  the  end 
rusher  and  the  tackle  upon  means  to 
prevent  advances  of  this  nature.  To 
the  players  in  the  centre  of  the  line 
there  is  no  apparent  difference  whether 
the  ball  be  played  from  touch  in  any  of 
these  ways  above  mentioned,  or  through 
the  more  customary  channel  of  the 
quarter-back.  To  the  end  and  tackle, 
however,  the  difference  is  marked,  be- 
cause the  runner  comes  so  much  sooner 
and  the  play  is  so  greatly  condensed 
and  focussed,  as  it  were,  directly  upon 
them. 


END   RUSHER.  35 

The  instructions  to  the  end  are  to 
handle  the  ball  as  much  as  possible 
while  the  opponent  is  endeavoring  to 
get  it  in,  and  thus  make  the  work  of 
that  individual  as  difficult  as  possible ; 
and,  secondly,  to  plant  one  foot  close 
to  the  touch  line  and  the  other  as  far 
out  into  the  field  as  is  consistent  with 
stability,  and  to  maintain  that  position 
until  the  play  is  over.  He  must  neither 
try  to  go  forward  nor  around,  but,  braced 
well  forward,  hold  his  ground.  If  he 
does  this,  no  runner  can  pass  within 
three  feet  of  the  touch  line,  and  outside 
of  that  the  tackle  can  take  care  of  him. 
This  player,  like  the  end,  should,  when 
the  ball  is  played  from  a  fair,  be  very 
loath  to  plunge  forward  until  the  play 
is  located,  because  in  the  present  stage 
of  development  of  the  game  one  can  be 
quite  sure  that  the  opponents  will  not 
play  the  ball  from   touch  unless  they 


36  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

have  some  definite  and  usually  decep- 
tive line  of  action.  Without  such  it  is 
by  far  the  better  policy  to  walk  out  the 
fifteen  paces  and  have  it  down.  The 
quarter-back  also  has  work  to  do  upon 
side-line  plays,  in  assisting  at  the  edge 
as  much  as  possible.  But  to  return  to 
the  end.  When  his  own  side  have  pos- 
session of  the  ball,  his  play,  like  that  of 
any  other  man,  must  be  governed  by  the 
character  of  the  intended  move,  and  the 
knowledge  of  wha^t  this  move  will  be  is 
conveyed  to  him  by  the  signal.  The 
nearer  the  play  is  to  his  end,  the  greater 
is  the  assistance  he  can  render.  There 
is  little  need  of  coaching  him  to  do  his 
work  when  the  run  is  along  his  line,  nor, 
in  fact,  when  it  is  upon  his  side  of  the 
centre.  The  knowledge  of  the  prox- 
imity of  the  runner  stirs  him  up  sufifi- 
ciently,  if  he  have  any  football  blood  in 
him.    The  point  towards  which  coaching 


END   RUSHER.  37 

should  be  directed  and  where  it  is  need- 
ed is  in  starting  instantly  to  render 
assistance  when  the  play  is  upon  the 
other  side  of  the  line.  There  is  no 
limit  to  the  amount  of  work  an  end 
may  perform  in  this  direction.  A  good 
end  can  toss  his  man  back  so  that  he 
cannot  interfere  with  the  play,  and  then 
cross  over  so  quickly  as  to  perform 
effective  interference  even  upon  end 
runs.  In  "  bucking  the  centre"  he  can 
come  from  behind  with  valuable  weight 
and  pressure.  A  coach  should  remem- 
ber, though,  that  it  will  not  do  to  start 
an  end  into  doing  too  much  unless  he 
is  able  to  stand  the  work,  for  an  end 
had  better  do  the  work  well  upon  his 
own  side  than  be  only  half  way  useful 
upon  both  ends.  A  tired-out  end  makes 
the  opponents  doubly  strong. 


THE  TACKLE 


Those  teams  upon  which  the  work 
of  end  and  tackle  has  been  best  devel- 
oped have,  for  the  last  few  years,  been 
markedly  superior  in  the  opposition  of- 
fered to  plays  of  their  opponents.  This 
fact  in  itself  is  an  excellent  guide  to  the 
style  of  play  one  ought  to  expect  from 
these  two  positions.  The  four  men  oc- 
cupying them  are  the  ones  to  meet  nine 
tenths  of  the  aggressive  work  of  the  op- 
ponents. The  position  of  end  has  al- 
ready been  dwelt  upon  at  length.  That 
of  tackle,  a  position  much  later  to  reach 
the  full  stage  of  development  than  the 
end,  has  nevertheless  now  attained  al- 
most an  equal  prominence.  The  tackle 
is  an  assistant  to  both  end  and  guard, 


42  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

while  he  has  also  duties  of  his  own  de- 
manding constant  attention. 

When  the  opponents  have  the  ball 
and  are  about  to  kick,  the  tackle  is  one 
of  the  most  active  components  of  the 
line.  He  may  not  be  moving  until  the 
ball  is  snapped,  but  upon  the  instant 
that  it  is  played  he  is  at  work.  He 
may  himself  go  through  to  prevent  the 
pass  or  kick,  or  still  oftener  he  may 
make  a  chance  for  a  line  half-back  to  do 
this.  By  a  line  half-back  is  meant  that 
one  who,  upon  his  opponents'  plays, 
comes  up  into  the  line  and  performs 
the  duties  of  a  rusher.  This  method 
has  become  so  common  of  late  that  it 
is  well  understood.  The  play  of  this 
line  half-back  must  dovetail  into  the 
work  of  the  tackle  so  well  as  to  make 
their  system  one  of  thoroughly  mutual 
understanding.  For  this  reason  they 
should  do  plenty  of  talking  and  plan- 


THE   TACKLE.  43 

ning  together  off  the  field,  and  carry 
their  plans  into  execution  in  daily  prac- 
tice until  they  become  in  company  a 
veritable  terror  to  opponents,  particu- 
larly to  kicking  halves. 

One  of  the  very  simple,  yet  clever 
and  successful,  combinations  worked  in 
this  way  has  been  for  the  line  half  to 
take  his  position  outside  the  tackle, 
who  immediately  begins  to  edge  out 
towards  the  end.  This  opens  a  gap  be- 
tween the  opposing  tackle  and  guard, 
for  the  tackle  will  naturally  follow  his 
man.  This  line  half  simply  watches  the 
centre,  and  as  he  sees  the  ball  played 
goes  sharply  behind  the  tackle  and 
through  the  opening.  This  play  can 
be  greatly  aided  by  cleverness  on  the 
part  of  the  tackle,  who,  to  perform  it 
to  perfection,  should  edge  out  most  cau- 
tiously, and  with  an  evident  intention 
of  going  to  the  outside  of  his  man.    He 


44  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

should  also  watch  the  centre  play,  and, 
most  important  of  all,  jump  directly 
forward  into  his  man  when  the  ball  is 
snapped.  This  will  enable  the  half  to 
take  almost  a  direct  line  for  the  half, 
and  with  his  flying  start  have  more  than 
a  fair  chance  of  spoiling  the  kick.  The 
tackle  must  not  be  idle  after  his  plunge, 
but  should  follow  in  sharply,  because 
there  will  always  be  an  opposing  half 
protecting  the  kicker ;  and  if  the  line 
half  be  checked  by  this  man,  as  is  not 
unlikely,  the  following  tackle  has  an  ex- 
cellent opportunity  by  getting  in  rapidly. 
The  tackle  and  half  should  alternate  in 
their  arrangement,  neither  one  always 
going  through  first,  and  thus  add  to 
the  anxiety  and  discomfort  of  the  op- 
ponents. 

When  the  opponents  are  about  to  run 
instead  of  kick,  the  same  combination  of 
line  half  and  tackle  can  be  put  in  opera- 


EVERETT  J.  LAKE. 
Harvard. 


THE  TACKLE.  45 

tion,  except  that  it  will  not  do  for  these 
two  to  follow  each  other  through  with 
such  freedom,  as  there  is  too  much  dan- 
ger of  both  being  shunted  off  by  a  clever 
turn  coupled  with  well-timed  interfer- 
ence. The  cardinal  point  to  be  remem- 
bered is,  to  be  far  enough  apart  so  that 
a  single  dodge  and  one  interference  can- 
not possibly  throw  off  both  men. 

The  tackle's  duties  towards  the  end 
have  been  partially  described  in  dwell- 
ing upon  the  work  of  the  latter,  but 
there  is  plenty  of  detail  to  be  studied. 
One  of  the  first  things  to  impress  upon 
the  tackle  is,  that  he  must  watch  the 
ball,  not  only  upon  the  pass  from  the 
quarter,  but  also  after  it  settles  in  the 
runner's  arms,  for  the  most  successful 
double  or  combination  passes  are  those 
which  draw  the  tackle  in  towards  the 
centre  and  give  the  second  recipient  of 
the  ball  only  the  end  to  pass.     It  has 


46  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

been  too  common  a  mistake  of  coaches 
to  caution  a  tackle  who  has  been  de- 
ceived by  this  double  pass  against  "  go- 
ing so  hard."  This  is  wrong.  It  soon 
results  in  making  a  slow  man  of  the 
player,  for  he  hangs  back  to  see  if  the 
runner  be  not  about  to  pass  the  ball,  un- 
til he  is  too  late  to  try  for  the  man  be- 
fore he  reaches  the  rush  line ;  and,  with 
the  present  system  of  interference  and 
crowding  a  runner  after  he  reaches  the 
rush  line,  there  is  no  chance  to  stop  him 
short  of  three,  and  it  may  very  likely 
be  five,  yards.  The  proper  coaching  is 
to  send  him  through  on  the  jump,  with 
his  eyes  open  for  tricks.  Let  him  take 
a  step  or  two  towards  the  runner,  so 
that,  if  no  second  pass  be  made,  the 
tackle  will  be  sure  to  meet  him  before 
he  reaches  the  rush  line,  and  not  after 
it.  This  method  of  coaching  makes 
not  only  sharp  tackles,  but  quick  and 


THE  TACKLE.  47 

clever  ones,  with  plenty  of  indepen- 
dence, which  will  be  found  a  most  ex- 
cellent quality. 

As  regards  the  relations  between  the 
tackle  and  guard,  they  are  best  defined 
by  saying  that  the  guard  expects  to  re- 
ceive the  assistance  of  the  tackle  in  all 
cases  requiring  agility,  while  in  cases 
requiring  weight  the  guard  is  equally 
ready  to  lend  assistance  to  the  tackle. 

When  his  own  side  has  the  ball,  the 
tackle  has  far  more  than  the  end  to  do. 
In  fact,  the  tackle  has  the  most  respon- 
sible work  of  any  man  along  the  line, 
having  more  openings  to  make,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  blocking  he  has 
to  perform  is  more  difficult.  The  ear- 
lier description  of  the  work  of  a  line 
half  and  the  tackle  in  getting  through 
is  sufficient  to  indicate  the  difficulties 
which  the  opposing  tackle  must  face 
in    preventing  this   breaking  through. 


48  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

While  blocking  may  not  be  the  most 
important  duty,  it  is  certainly  the  one 
which  will  bear  the  most  cultivation  in 
the  tackles  of  the  present  day,  for  the 
ones  who  are  really  adept  in  it  are  marked 
exceptions  to  the  general  run.  It  is  no 
exaggeration  to  say  that  more  than  two 
thirds  of  the  breaking  through  that  does 
real  damage  comes  between  the  end  and 
guard,  and  therefore  in  the  space  sup- 
posed to  be  under  the  care  of  the  tackle. 
By  successful  blocking  is  meant,  not  un- 
fair holding,  which  sooner  or  later  will 
result  in  disaster,  nor  backing  upon  a 
runner  or  kicker  as  the  charger  advances, 
which  is  almost  as  bad  as  no  blocking, 
but  that  clever  and  properly  timed  body- 
checking  of  the  opponent  which  delays 
him  just  long  enough  to  render  his  ef- 
fort to  reach  his  man  futile  every  time. 
This  kind  of  blocking  looks  so  easy,  and 
is  so  difficult,  that  it  is  found  only  in  a 


WYLLYS  TERRY. 
Yale. 


THE   TACKLE.  49 

man  who  is  willing  to  make  a  study  of 
it.  Coaching  can  but  give  any  one  wish- 
ing to  acquire  this  a  few  points ;  the  real 
accomplishment  depends  upon  the  man's 
unflagging  perseverance  and  study.  The 
first  thing  to  be  noted  is,  that  a  really 
good  forward  cannot  possibly  be  blocked 
every  time  in  the  same  way.  He  soon 
becomes  used  to  the  method,  and  is  able 
to  avoid  the  attempt.  Dashing  violently 
against  him  just  as  he  is  starting  may 
work  once  or  twice,  and  then  he  will 
make  a  false  start  to  draw  this  charge, 
and  easily  go  by  the  man.  Standing 
motionless,  and  then  turning  with  a 
sharp  swing  back  against  him,  will  dis- 
concert his  charge  once  in  a  while.  Shoul- 
dering him  in  the  side  as  he  passes  will 
throw  him  off  his  balance  or  against 
some  other  man,  if  well  performed,  oc- 
casionally. Falling  down  before  him 
by  a  plunge  will  upset  him  even  when 
4 


5©  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

he  has  quite  a  clear  space  apparently, 
but  it  will  not  work  if  played  too  often. 
By  a  preconcerted  plan  he  may  be 
coaxed  through  upon  a  pretended  snap, 
and  then  the  ball  played  while  he  is 
guarded  and  five  yards  gained  by  his 
off-side  play,  but  he  will  not  be  taken 
in  again  by  the  same  method.  These 
are  but  a  few  of  the  strategies  which 
engage  the  study  of  the  tackle.  How 
soon  to  let  the  man  through  is  also  an 
important  question.  When  the  ball  is 
to  be  punted,  the  tackle  upon  the  kick- 
er's side  must  block  long  and  hard,  while 
the  tackle  upon  the  other  end  should 
block  sharply,  and  then  let  his  man 
through  for  the  sake  of  getting  down 
the  field  under  the  kick.  When  a  drop 
is  to  be  attempted,  the  blocking  upon 
both  sides  must  be  close  and  long,  much 
longer  than  for  a  punt.  Moreover,  it  is 
by  no  means  a  bad  policy  to  have  the 


THE   TACKLE.  5 1 

blocking  last  until  the  ball  is  actually 
seen  in  the  air  in  front  of  the  line,  be- 
cause then,  if  the  kick  be  stopped,  the 
tackles  can  go  back  to  assist  the  backs 
in  recovering  the  ball.  The  blocking 
for  a  kick,  as  a  rule,  should  be  close ; 
that  is,  every  opponent  must  be  matched 
from  the  centre  out,  leaving  the  free 
man  or  men  on  the  ends.  This  rule  has 
its  exceptions,  but  when  there  is  any 
doubt  about  the  play  it  is  safest  to  block 
close,  and  take  the  chances  from  the  ends 
rather  than  through  breaks  in  the  line. 

In  blocking  for  a  run  the  case  is  very 
different,  and  depends  upon  the  point 
of  assault.  If  the  run  is  to  be  made 
around  the  right  end,  for  instance,  by 
the  left  half-back,  the  right  tackle  must 
block  very  slowly  and  long.  That  is, 
he  must  not  dash  up  to  his  man  the  in- 
stant the  ball  is  snapped  and  butt  him 
aside,  for  the  runner  will  not  be  near 


52  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

enough  to  derive  any  advantage  from 
this,  and  the  opponent  will  easily  re- 
cover in  time  to  tackle  him.  Rather 
should  he  avoid  contact  with  his  man 
until  his  runner  makes  headway,  and 
then  keep  between  the  opponent  and 
runner  until  the  latter  puts  on  steam  to 
circle,  when  it  is  his  duty  to  engage  his 
man  sharply,  and  thus  let  the  runner 
pass.  In  blocking  for  an  inside  run 
upon  his  own  side,  he  should  turn  his 
man  out  or  in,  as  the  case  may  be,  just 
as  the  runner  reaches  the  opening,  be- 
ing particularly  careful  not  to  make 
the  break  too  early,  lest  the  opponent 
reach  the  runner  before  he  comes  to 
the  opening. 


THE  GUARD 


The  position  of  guard,  while  it  re- 
quires less  agility  than  that  of  tackle, 
can  never  be  satisfactorily  filled  by  a 
man  who  is  slow.  Many  a  coach  makes 
this  mistake  and  fails  to  see  his  error 
until  too  late  to  correct  it.  I  remember 
once  seeing  upon  a  minor  team  a  guard 
who  weighed  at  least  190  pounds  re- 
placed by  a  man  of  155,  and  the  latter 
actually  filled  the  position — greatly  to 
my  astonishment,  I  confess — in  excel- 
lent fashion.  This  does  not  at  all  go  to 
prove  that  weight  is  of  no  value  in  a 
guard.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  a  quality 
especially  to  be  desired,  and  if  one  can 
find  a  heavy  man  who  is  not  slow  he  is 
the  choice  by  all  means.     But  weight 


56  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

must  be  given  work  to  do,  and  that 
work  demands  practice,  and  slowness  of 
execution  cannot  be  tolerated.  At  the 
outset  the  coach  must  impress  this  fact 
upon  the  guards,  and  insist  upon  their 
doing  their  work  quickly.  It  is  really 
wonderful  how  much  better  the  effect 
of  that  work  will  prove  to  be  when  per- 
formed with  a  snap  and  dash  that  are 
not  difficult  to  acquire. 

When  the  opponents  have  the  ball 
and  are  about  to  kick,  the  guard  should 
have  in  his  mind  one  persistent  thought, 
and  that  is,  to  reach  the  quarter  before 
the  ball  is  away  from  his  hand,  but  not 
to  stop  there.  It  is  only  once  in  a  great 
while  that  fortune  favors  sufficiently 
to  crown  this  attempt  with  success. 
When  it  does,  so  much  the  better;  but 
the  guard  should  take  in  the  quarter 
only  in  a  general  sweep,  making  on  for 
the  kicker,  and  at  the  same  time  getting 


B.  W.  TRAFFORD. 
Harvard. 


THE  GUARD.  57 

his  arms  up  in  the  air  when  he  comes 
before  him,  so  as  to  take  every  possible 
chance  of  stopping  the  ball.  Just  here 
it  may  be  well  to  explain  the  confidence 
with  which  in  these  details  of  coaching 
the  phrases  are  used  "when  the  oppo- 
nents are  about  to  kick "  and  "  when 
the  opponents  are  about  to  run."  It 
is  true  that  one  cannot  tell  infallibly 
every  time  whether  the  play  will  be  a 
kick  or  a  run,  but  experienced  players 
are  really  so  seldom  at  fault  in  their 
judgment  upon  this  point  that  it  is  safe 
to  coach  as  though  there  never  existed 
any  doubt  about  the  matter. 

To  continue  with  the  work  of  the 
guard  when  the  opponents  are  about  to 
attempt  a  run.  One  of  the  most  im- 
portant features  of  the  play  in  this  po- 
sition is  to  guard  against  small  wedges. 
If  a  guard  simply  stands  still  and 
straight  he  will  be  swept  over  like  a 


58  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

wisp  of  straw  by  any  well -executed 
wedge  play  directed  at  him.  An  ex- 
perienced man  knows  this,  and  his  chief 
thought  is  how  to  avoid  it,  and  how,  first, 
to  prevent  the  formation  ;  second,  to  al- 
ter the  direction,  and,  finally,  to  stop  the 
progress,  of  this  terror  of  centre  work, 
the  small  wedge.  There  are  as  many 
ways  of  accomplishing  these  results  as 
of  performing  the  duties  of  tackle  or 
end,  and  it  rests  with  the  individual 
player  to  study  them  out.  To  prevent 
the  formation  of  small  wedges,  the  most 
successful  method  is  that  of  sudden 
and,  if  possible,  disconcerting  move- 
ments. Jostling,  so  far  as  it  is  allowed, 
sudden  change  of  position,  a  pretended 
charge  —  all  these  tend  to  break  up 
the  close  formation.  Once  formed  and 
started,  the  change  of  direction  is  usu- 
ally the  most  disarranging  play  pos- 
sible ;  but  this  should  not  be  attempted 


THE  GUARD.  59 

by  the  player  or  players  opposite  the 
point  of  the  wedge.  At  that  spot  the 
proper  play  is  to  check  advance,  even 
temporarily ;  for  the  advance  once 
checked,  the  wedge  may  be  swung  from 
the  side  so  as  to  take  off  the  pressure 
from  behind.  So  it  is  the  men  at  the 
side  who  must  endeavor  to  turn  the 
wedge  and  take  off  this  pressure. 
Without  the  actual  formation  upon  the 
field  it  is  difficult  to  fully  explain  this 
turning  of  the  wedge ;  but  if  the  prin- 
ciple cf  the  defence  be  borne  in  mind,  it 
will  not  be  found  so  hard  to  under- 
stand. Check  the  peak  even  for  a  mo- 
ment, and  get  the  weight  off  from  be- 
hind as  speedily  as  possible.  The  men 
who  are  pushing  must  necessarily  act 
blindly ;  and  if  their  force  is  not  directly 
upon  the  men  at  the  point  of  the  V, 
they  pass  by  the  man  with  the  ball  and 
so  become  useless.     Both  guards  must 


6o  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

keep  their  weight  down  low,  close  to 
the  ground,  so  that  the  wedge,  if  di- 
rected at  either,  cannot  throw  that  one 
at  once  off  his  balance  backward.  If 
this  occurs,  the  wedge  will  always  make 
its  distance,  perhaps  go  many  yards. 
Lying  down  before  the  wedge  is  a  prac- 
tice based  upon  this  principle  of  keep- 
ing close  to  the  ground,  and  is  by  no 
means  an  ineffectual  way  of  stopping 
an  advance,  although  it  is  not  as  strong 
a  play  as  bringing  about  the  same  result 
without  actually  losing  the  power  to 
straighten  up  if  the  wedge  turns.  More- 
over, the  men  in  the  front  of  a  wedge 
are  becoming  so  accustomed  to  meeting 
this  flat  defence  that  they  not  infre- 
quently succeed  in  getting  over  the 
prostrate  man  and  regaining  headway 
upon  the  other  side.  This,  as  one  can 
readily  see,  must  always  yield  a  very 
considerable  gain.     When  a  run  is  at- 


T.  L.  McCLUNG. 
Yale. 


THE   GUARD.  6 1 

tempted  at  some  other  point  in  the  line, 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  guards  to  get 
through  hard  and  follow  the  runner 
into  his  opening,  even  if  they  cannot 
reach  him  before  he  comes  into  the  line. 
In  this  class  of  play  a  guard  should  re- 
member that  if  he  can  lay  a  hand  upon 
the  runner  before  he  reaches  the  line  he 
can  spoil  the  advance  to  a  certainty,  for 
no  runner  can  drag  a  heavy  guard  up 
into  and  through  an  opening.  It  is  like 
dragging  a  heavy  and  unwieldy  anchor. 
A  guard  can  afford  to,  and  must  some- 
times, tackle  high.  Not  that  he  should, 
in  the  open,  ever  go  at  the  shoulders, 
but  in  close  quarters  he  often  has  no 
time  to  get  down  low,  and  must  make 
the  best  of  taking  his  man  anywhere 
that  the  opportunity  offers.  He  must 
always,  however,  throw  him  towards  the 
opponent's  goal.  Another  point  for 
guards  to  bear  in  mind  is,  that  in  close 


62  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

quarters  it  is  often  possible  to  deprive 
the  runner  of  the  ball  before  he  says 
"  down."  A  guard  who  always  tries 
this  will  be  surprised  at  the  number  of 
times  he  will  find  the  referee  giving  him 
the  ball.  He  will  also  be  astonished  at 
the  way  this  attempt  results  in  the  run- 
ner saying  "  down  "  as  soon  as  he  finds 
some  one  tugging  at  the  ball.  A  man 
gives  up  all  thought  of  further  advance 
the  instant  he  finds  the  ball  slipping  at 
all  in  his  grasp  ;  and  when  his  attention 
is  distracted  from  the  idea  of  running, 
as  it  is  when  he  is  fearful  of  losing  the 
ball,  he  can  never  make  use  of  his  op- 
portunities to  good  advantage.  For 
this  reason  the  coach  should  impress 
upon  all  the  forwards  the  necessity  of 
always  trying  to  take  away  the  ball  ; 
but  the  men  in  and  near  the  centre 
are  likely  to  have  the  best  opportunity 
for  this  play,  because  it   is  there  that 


THE  GUARD.  63 

the  runner  encounters  a  number  of  men 
at  once  rather  than  a  single  individual. 
When  his  own  side  have  the  ball  the 
guard  must  block  sharply  until  the 
quarter  has  time  for  receiving  the  ball, 
and,  at  any  rate,  beginning  the  motion  of 
the  pass.  It  is  safer,  in  the  case  of  inex- 
perienced guards,  to  tell  them  to  block 
until  the  quarter  has  time  to  get  rid  of 
the  ball.  The  distinction  is  this :  that 
an  experienced  guard  sometimes  likes 
to  gain  just  that  second  of  time  be- 
tween the  beginning  of  the  pass  and 
the  completion  of  the  swing,  and  utilize 
it  in  getting  down  the  field  or  making 
an  opening.  So  accustomed  does  he 
become  to  measuring  the  time  correctly 
that  he  will  let  the  opponent  through 
just  too  late  to  reach  the  quarter,  al- 
though it  seems  a  very  close  call.  It  is 
not  safe  to  let  green  guards  attempt 
anything    so    close.     They    must    be 


64  AMERICAN   FOOTBALL. 

taught  to  block  securely  until  the  ball 
is  on  its  way  to  the  runner  or  kicker. 
The  blocking  of  a  guard  is  much  less 
exacting  in  its  requirements  than  that 
of  the  tackle.  Not  that  he  must  not 
block  with  equal  certainty,  but  the  act 
requires  no  such  covering  of  two  men 
as  often  happens  in  the  case  of  a  tackle. 
The  guard  forms  closely  towards  the 
centre,  and  then  follows  his  man  out  if 
he  moves  out,  but  only  as  far  as  he  can 
go,  and  still  be  absolutely  certain  that 
the  opponent  cannot  pass  between  him 
and  the  snap-back.  To  be  drawn  or 
coaxed  out  far  enough  to  admit  of  an 
opponent's  going  through  the  centre 
shows  woful  ignorance  in  any  guard. 

When  a  kick  is  to  be  made  the 
blocking  must  be  prolonged  a  little,  and 
on  a  drop-kick  (as  mentioned  earlier)  it 
should  last  until  the  ball  goes  from  the 
foot.     When    blocking    for    a    run,   of 


•o 


V.  M.   HARDING. 
Harvard. 


THE   GUARD.  65 

course  much  depends  upon  where  the 
opening  is  to  be  made,  and  a  guard 
must  be  governed  accordingly.  The 
method  itself  is,  again,  different  in  the 
guard  from  that  exhibited  in  the  tackle. 
A  guard  may  not  move  about  so  freely 
and  must  face  his  man  more  squarely 
than  a  tackle,  for  the  guard  must  pro- 
tect the  quarter  first,  while  the  tackle 
considers  the  half  only.  If  a  guard  al- 
lows his  opponent  to  get  a  fair  lunge 
with  outstretched  arm  over  or  past  his 
shoulder,  he  may  reach  the  quarter's 
arm  even  though  his  body  is  checked, 
while  such  a  reach  at  the  point  in  the 
line  occupied  by  the  tackle  would  be  of 
no  value  whatever.  Previous  to  the 
snap-back's  playing  the  ball  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  guards  to  see  that  their  in- 
dividual opponents  do  not  succeed  in 
either  kicking  the  ball  out  from  the 
snap-back's  hand  or  otherwise  interfer- 
5 


66  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL, 

ing  with  his  play.  This  is  quite  an  im- 
portant feature,  and  a  centre  should  al- 
ways feel  that  he  has  upon  either  hand 
a  steady  and  wide-awake  assistant,  who 
will  neither  be  caught  napping  nor  al- 
low any  unfair  advantage  to  be  taken 
of  him.  The  guard  should  bear  in 
mind  one  fact,  however,  and  that  most 
clearly.  It  is  that  squabbling  and  gen- 
eral pushing  about  are  far  more  liable  to 
disconcert  his  own  centre  and  quarter 
than  to  interfere  with  the  work  of  the 
opponents. 


THE  CENTRE,  OR  SNAP-BACK 


The  man  who  may  be  selected  to  fill 
the  important  position  of  centre -rush 
must  be  a  man  of  sense  and  strength. 
Brain  and  brawn  are  here  at  their  high- 
est premium.  But  there  is  another  ele- 
ment of  character  without  which  both 
will  be  overthrown,  and  that  is  pa- 
tience. Practical  experience  has  taught 
football  coaches  that  none  but  a  thor- 
oughly self-controlled  man  can  make  a 
success  in  football  in  any  position,  while 
in  this  particular  one  his  disposition 
should  be  of  the  most  equable  nature. 
He  will  be  called  upon  to  face  all  kinds 
of  petty  annoyances,  for  his  opponents 
will  endeavor  to  make  his  play  as  dif- 
ficult as  possible ;  and  never  must  he  al- 


7©  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

low  himself  for  one  instant  to  lose  sight 
of  the  fact  that  his  entire  attention 
must  be  devoted  to  his  play,  and  none 
of  it  distracted  by  personal  feeling. 
Moreover,  while  he  must  be  able  to 
play  the  ball  quickly  when  called  upon, 
he  can  never  afford  to  be  hurried  by  his 
opponents.  With  the  present  excellent 
rulings  of  umpires  regarding  interfer- 
ence with  the  ball  before  it  is  snapped, 
much  of  the  most  harassing  kicking  of 
the  ball  from  under  his  hand  has  been 
stopped  ;  but,  for  all  that,  he  is  indeed  a 
lucky  centre  who  does  not  feel  the  ball 
knocked  out  from  under  his  grasp  sev- 
eral times  during  a  game.  In  addition 
to  this,  every  man  who  breaks  through 
gives  him  a  rub.  Sometimes  these 
knocks  are  intentional,  often  they  are 
given  purely  by  accident,  and  the  latter 
are  by  no  means  the  lightest.  Then, 
too,  a  man  is  pushed  into  the  snap-back 


THE   CENTRE,  OR    SNAP-BACK.  7 1 

just  as  the  ball  goes.  It  may  be  his 
own  guard,  but  the  blow  hurts  just  as 
much;  and  a  centre  who  is  not  amiable 
under  such  treatment  soon  loses  his  head 
and  forgets  that  he  should  care  for  noth- 
ing except  to  accomplish  gains  for  his 
own  side.  The  object  of  placing  so 
much  stress  upon  this  qualification  is 
to  impress  upon  a  coach  the  almost  in- 
estimable value  of  the  quality  of  patience 
in  any  men  he  may  be  trying  for  this 
position.  He  can  never  say  too  much 
about  it. 

As  regards  the  duties  of  the  place, 
they  differ  from  those  of  any  other  po- 
sition in  the  line  on  account  of  the  con- 
stant presence  at  that  spot  of  the  ball. 
The  centre  is  either  playing  the  ball 
himself  or  watching  his  antagonist  play 
the  ball  at  every  down  ;  so  that  while  he 
has  all  the  other  duties  of  a  forward  to 
execute,  he  has  the  special  work  besides. 


72  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

Here  is  the  weakness  of  so  many  cen- 
tres. They  are  snap-backs  only  or  for- 
wards only,  the  former  being  by  all 
odds  the  more  common.  A  good  criti- 
cal coach  of  experience  will  see  nine 
out  of  every  ten  men  whom  he  may 
watch  in  this  position  playing  through 
day  after  day  with  no  more  idea  of  do- 
ing any  forward  work  than  if  they  were 
referees.  Putting  the  ball  in  play  at 
the  right  time,  and  properly,  is  a  great 
achievement,  but  it  does  not  free  the 
centre-rush  from  all  other  obligations. 
He  must  protect  his  quarter;  he  must 
aid  in  making  openings,  and  perform 
any  interference  that  may  be  possible, 
as  well  as  always  assisting  a  runner  of 
his  own  side  with  weight  or  protection. 
He  must  always  get  down  the  field  un- 
der a  kick,  for  it  is  by  no  means  unusu- 
al for  him  to  have  the  best  opportunity 
in  these  days  when  end  rushers  are  so 


JESSE   RIGGS. 
Princeton. 


THE   CENTRE,  OR   SNAP-BACK.  73 

carefully  watched.  When  the  oppo- 
nents have  the  ball,  he  must  not  be  con- 
tent with  seeing  that  the  opponent  does 
not  roll  it  to  a  guard,  but  must  also  see 
that  there  is  no  short,  tricky  passing  in 
the  scrimmage.  Then  he  must  be  as 
ready  as  either  guard  to  meet,  stop,  or 
turn  a  wedge.  He  must  make  openings 
for  his  comrades  to  get  through,  even 
when  he  himself  may  be  blocked,  and 
always  be  ready  to  reach  out  or  throw 
himself  before  a  coming  runner  to  check 
the  advance. 

The  details  of  the  special  Avork  of  the 
centre  are  many,  and  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  them  can  only  come  from  ex- 
perience. During  his  early  progress  a 
new  snap-back  usually  sends  the  ball 
against  his  own  legs,  or,  if  he  manages 
to  keep  them  out  of  the  way,  is  upset 
by  his  opponent  for  his  pains.  It  is  no 
child's  play  to  hold  a  ball  out  at  arm's- 


74  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

length  on  the  ground  in  front  of  one 
and  roll  it  back  so  that  it  passes  be- 
tween one's  feet,  and  still  preserve  a 
good  balance  in  spite  of  a  sudden  push 
of  a  hundred -and -eighty -pound  oppo- 
nent. But  that  is  just  what  a  centre  has 
to  do  every  time  the  ball  is  down  and 
belongs  to  his  side.  The  first  thing  to 
teach  a  centre  is  to  stand  on  his  feet 
against  any  amount  of  jostling.  Then 
he  must  learn  to  keep  possession  of  the 
ball  until  ready  to  play  it.  Both  of 
these  acquirements  take  practice.  The 
most  finished  and  experienced  centres 
have  a  way  of  playing  the  ball  just  as 
they  are  half  straightening  as  though 
to  meet  a  charge  from  in  front.  This 
insures  their  not  being  pushed  over  on 
to  the  quarter,  and  yet  does  not  cause 
them  to  lean  so  far  forward  as  to  be 
pitched  on  their  noses  by  a  little  assist- 
ance from  the  opposing  centre.     When 


THE  CENTRE,  OR   SNAP-BACK.  75 

a  man  stands  so  as  to  prevent  a  push  in 
the  chest  from  upsetting  him,  he  natu- 
rally  puts  one  foot  back  some  distance 
as  a  support.  When  a  centre  does  this 
he  is  apt  to  put  that  foot  and  leg  in  the 
path  of  the  ball.  A  second  objection 
to  this  way  of  standing  is,  that  the  cen- 
tre does  not  offer  nearly  as  much  oppo- 
sition to  any  one  attempting  to  pass  as 
he  does  when  he  stands  more  squarely 
faced  about  with  a  good  spread  of  the 
legs.  As  to  holding  the  ball,  some  cen- 
tres prefer  to  take  it  by  the  end,  while 
others  roll  it  on  its  side.  It  can  be 
made  to  rise  for  the  quarter  if  sent  on 
end,  whereas  if  played  upon  its  side  it 
lies  closer  to  the  ground.  The  quar- 
ter's preference  has,  therefore,  some- 
thing to  do  with  it.  It  requires  longer 
practice  and  more  skill  to  play  the  ball 
on  its  end,  but  it  permits  an  umpire  to 
see  more  clearly  whether  the  ball  be 


76  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

actually  put  in  play  by  the  snap-back 
or  played  for  him  by  the  surreptitious 
kick  of  the  opponent.  It  has  also  the 
advantage  of  sending  the  ball  more  nar- 
rowly upon  a  line,  so  that  its  course  is  less 
likely  to  be  altered  than  when  rolled 
upon  its  side.  While  the  snap-back  is 
seldom  held  to  the  very  strictest  con- 
formity to  the  rule  about  being  on  side 
when  he  puts  the  ball  in  play,  it  is  nec- 
essary for  him  to  practise  with  a  view 
to  this  particular,  because  he  is  liable  to 
be  obliged  to  conform  every  time  if  the 
opponents  insist.  The  reason  for  care- 
lessness in  this  respect  is,  there  is  no 
penalty  for  infringement  except  being 
obliged  to  return  to  the  spot  and  put 
the  ball  in  play  properly.  A  certain 
laxity,  therefore,  is  granted  rather  than 
to  cause  delays.  But,  as  stated  above, 
a  centre  must  be  able  to  put  the  ball  in 
play  when  fairly  on  side,  and  must  live 


W.  H.   CORBIN. 
Yale. 


THE   CENTRE,  OR   SNAP-BACK.  77 

up  to  this  with  some  moderate  degree 
of  regularity,  or  else  the  umpire  will 
call  an  off  side  and  bring  him  back.  A 
centre  ought  to  practise  putting  the  ball 
in  play  with  either  hand  until  he  is  fair- 
ly proficient  with  his  left  as  well  as  his 
right.  Not  that  he  should  use  his  hands 
alternately  in  a  game,  but  that  an  in- 
jury to  his  right  hand  need  not  neces- 
sarily throw  him  out  of  the  game.  It 
is  by  no  means  an  unrecognized  fact 
that  the  greater  amount  of  experience 
possessed  by  the  regular  centre  is  so 
valuable  as  to  make  it  policy  to  keep 
him  in  his  place  so  long  as  his  legs  are 
good,  even  though  a  hand  be  injured, 
rather  than  to  replace  him  by  the  sub- 
stitute with  whose  methods  the  quarter- 
back is  not  so  familiar. 

A  coach  should  see  to  it  that  his  centre 
has  a  variety  of  men  to  face,  some  big, 
some  tricky,  some  ugly.    If  any  old  play- 


78  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

ers  come  back  to  help  the  team  in  the 
way  of  coaching,  and  among  them  are 
some  centre  rushers,  they  can  do  no  bet- 
ter work  than  by  donning  a  uniform  and 
playing  against  the  "  'Varsity  "  centre. 


THE  QUARTER-BACK 


The  quarter  is,  under  the  captain,  the 
director  of  the  game.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  one  or  two  uncommon  and  rare 
plays,  there  is  not  one  of  any  kind,  his 
side  having  the  ball,  in  which  it  does  not 
pass  through  his  hands.  The  impor- 
tance of  his  work  it  is  therefore  impos- 
sible to  overrate.  He  must  be,  above 
all  the  qualifications  of  brains  and  agil- 
ity usually  attributed  to  that  position, 
of  a  hopeful  or  sanguine  disposition.  He 
must  have  confidence  in  his  centre  him- 
self, and,  most  of  all,  in  the  man  to 
whom  he  passes  the  ball.  He  should 
always  believe  that  the  play  will  be  a 
success.  The  coach  can  choose  no  more 
helpful  course  during  the  first  few  days, 
6 


82  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

as  far  as  the  quarter  is  concerned,  than 
that  of  persuading  him  to  repose  confi- 
dence in  his  men.  Many  promising  half- 
backs are  ruined  by  the  quarter.  There 
is  nothing  that  makes  halves  fumble  so 
badly,  get  into  such  awkward  positions, 
start  so  slowly,  and  withal  play  so  half- 
heartedly, as  the  feeling  that  the  quarter 
does  not  think  much  of  them,  does  not 
trust  them,  or  believe  in  their  abilities. 
Every  half-back  can  tell  the  same  story 
— how  he  is  nerved  up  by  the  confidence 
of  the  quarter,  and  what  an  inspiration 
it  is  to  good  work  to  see  that  confident 
look  in  the  eye  of  the  man  who  is  about 
to  pass  to  him.  But  not  alone  in  the 
work  of  the  half  does  it  make  a  great 
difference,  but  in  that  of  the  quarter 
himself.  When  he  lacks  confidence  in 
his  man,  his  passing  is  unsteady  and  er- 
ratic as  well  as  slow.  He  allows  the 
opponents  a  far  better  chance  of  reach- 


THE   QUARTER-BACK.  83 

ing  the  man  before  he  can  get  started, 
both  by  irregular  and  slow  passing,  and 
also  by  a  nervous  looking  at  him  before 
the  ball  is  played. 

In  practice,  great  stress  should  be  laid 
on  quick  handling  and  sharp  passing  of 
the  ball.  A  quarter  can  slow  up  in  a 
game  if  advisable,  but  he  can  never  do 
any  faster  work  than  that  which  he  does 
in  practice  without  throwing  his  men 
completely  out.  In  order  to  make  the 
play  rapid,  a  quarter  must  be  figuratively 
tied  to  the  centre's  coat,  or  rather  jacket, 
tails.  As  soon  as  the  centre  reaches  the 
ball  after  a  down,  he  should  know  that 
the  quarter  is  with  him.  Usually  there 
is  an  understood  signal  between  them, 
which  not  only  shows  the  centre  that 
the  quarter  is  on  hand,  but  also  when  he 
is  ready  to  receive  the  ball.  One  of  the 
most  common  of  these  signals  has  been 
placing  the  hand  upon  the  centre's  leg 


84  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

or  back.  A  pinch  would  let  him  know 
when  to  snap  the  ball.  In  spite  of  this 
method's  having  been  used  by  oppo- 
nents to  fool  a  centre,  it  has  been,  and 
still  is,  the  most  common.  One  of  the 
best  variations  of  it  has  been  for  the 
quarter  to  put  his  hand  upon  the  centre 
and  keep  it  there  until  he  is  ready  for 
the  ball,  then  take  it  ofi  and  let  the 
centre  snap  the  ball,  not  instantly,  but 
at  his  convenience.  Should  anything 
occur  making  it  advisable,  for  some  rea- 
son, to  stop  the  play,  the  quarter  puts 
his  hand  upon  the  centre  again  at  once, 
and  until  it  is  once  more  removed  the 
snap-back  understands  that  the  quarter 
is  not  ready  to  have  the  ball  come.  Al- 
most any  amount  of  variation  can  be 
made  in  the  signal  of  the  quarter  to  his 
centre ;  but  in  arranging  this  it  should 
be  constantly  borne  in  mind  that  the 
signal  should  not  be  such  as  to  give  the 


ALEXANDER  MOFFATT. 
Princeton* 


THE    QUARTER-BACK.  85 

opponents  the  exact  instant  of  the  play, 
because  it  gives  them  too  close  an  idea 
of  the  moment  when  they  may  start. 

The  speed  of  a  quarter's  work  de- 
pends upon  his  ability  to  take  the  ball 
close  to  the  snap-back  and  in  proper 
position  for  a  pass.  In  merely  handing 
the  ball  to  a  runner,  one  might  suppose 
that  there  would  be  no  particular  posi- 
tion in  which  the  ball  should  be  held ; 
but  in  that  he  would  be  in  error,  for  a 
ball  so  handed  to  a  passing  runner  as 
not  to  settle  properly  in  his  arms  or 
hands  means  in  many  instances  a  disas- 
trous fumble,  or  at  best  a  slowing-up  of 
the  runner's  speed.  In  giving  the  ball 
to  a  passing  runner,  it  should  be  held 
free  and  clear  of  the  quarter's  body  and 
slightly  tilted,  so  that  it  can  be  taken 
against  the  body,  and  without  the  use 
of  both  hands  for  more  than  an  instant, 
because  the  runner  must  almost  imme- 


86  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

diately  have  use  for  his  arm  in  going 
into  the  line.  It  is  impossible  to  give 
in  print  the  exact  angle  and  method  of 
holding  the  ball  for  this  purpose,  but 
practice  and  the  wishes  of  the  runners, 
if  consulted,  will  soon  show  the  quarter 
just  what  is  meant.  When  the  ball  is 
to  be  passed  any  considerable  distance, 
it  should  be  taken  so  that  the  end  is 
well  placed  against  the  hand  of  the 
quarter,  while  the  ball  itself  lies  against 
the  forearm,  the  wrist  being  bent  sharp- 
ly. This  will  enable  the  quarter  to  send 
the  ball  swiftly  and  accurately  almost 
any  distance  that  it  may  be  necessary  to 
cover.  Of  course,  in  many  cases  the 
ball  does  not  actually  rest  against  the 
forearm  of  the  quarter ;  but  this  is  the 
best  way  of  conveying  the  idea  of  the 
proper  position  of  the  hand  upon  the 
point  of  the  ball,  and  by  practising  in 
this  way  the  correct  motion  for  steady 


THE   QUARTER-BACK.  87 

passing  is  speedily  acquired.  In  receiv- 
ing the  ball,  the  right  hand,  or  the  hand 
with  which  the  throw  is  made,  should  be 
placed  upon  the  end  of  the  ball,  while 
the  other  hand  stops  its  progress,  and 
should  be  placed  as  nearly  upon  the 
opposite  end  of  the  ball  as  convenient. 
This  is  the  theoretically  proper  way  of 
receiving  the  ball ;  practically,  the  hand- 
ling cannot  be  as  accurately  performed 
as  this  would  indicate.  If,  however,  the 
quarter  will  in  practice  be  constantly 
aiming  at  receiving  the  ball  so  that  his 
right  hand  grasps  the  end  just  as  his 
left  hand  stops  the  ball,  and  settles  it 
securely  against  his  right,  he  will  find 
that  after  a  few  weeks  he  can  receive 
four  out  of  five  snap-backs  in  such  a 
way  as  to  make  any  great  amount  of  ar- 
ranging the  ball  for  his  pass,  after  it  is  in 
his  hands,  quite  unnecessary.  After  the 
preliminary  weeks  of  practice,  and  v/hen 


88  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

in  a  game,  he  must  bear  in  mind  the 
fact  that,  in  order  of  importance,  his  du- 
ties are,  first,  to  secure  the  ball,  no  mat- 
ter how  ;  second,  to  convey  it  to  his  own 
man,  no  matter  whether  in  good  form 
or  not.  He  must  never  pass  the  ball  if 
he  has  fumbled  it,  unless  he  has  a  per- 
fectly clear  field  in  which  to  do  it^  He 
must  always  have  it  down  in  preference 
to  taking  the  slightest  risk  of  losing  it. 
Even  though  he  receive  it  without  a 
fumble,  there  may  be  a  way  through  in 
that  part  of  the  line  towards  which  his 
pass  is  to  be  delivered ;  and  here,  again, 
he  should  hold  the  ball  for  another 
down  rather  than  take  any  chance  of 
the  opponent's  intercepting  the  pass. 
After  letting  the  ball  go,  the  quarter 
should  follow  his  pass ;  in  fact,  he 
should  be  almost  on  the  run  as  the  ball 
leaves  his  hand.  No  matter  whether 
the  ball  be  caught  or  fumbled,  he  is  then 


RALPH    WARREN. 
Princeton. 


THE   QUARTER-BACK.  89 

ready  to  lend  assistance ;  whereas  if  he 
stand  still  after  his  pass,  he  is  of  no  use 
to  the  rest  of  the  play.  When  the  play 
is  a  run,  he  can  do  excellent  work  in  in- 
terfering ;  and  when  the  play  is  a  kick, 
he  can  take  any  opponent  who  gets 
through,  and  thus  aid  the  half  in  pro- 
tecting the  kicker.  In  either  case,  if  his 
own  man  muff  or  fumble  he  is  close  at 
hand  to  lend  assistance  in  an  emergen- 
cy, which  otherwise  might  prove  most 
disastrous.  When  lining  up  the  quarter 
should  take  a  quick  glance,  not  directly 
at  the  player  he  is  to  make  the  recipient 
of  the  ball,  but  covering  the  general  po- 
sition of  all  the  men.  In  doing  this  he 
locates  his  individual  without  making  it 
apparent  to  the  opponents  which  man 
is  to  receive  the  ball.  Any  amount  of 
disguise  may  be  practised  in  the  way  of 
taking  a  last  glance  at  the  wrong  man, 
or  calling  out  to  some  one  who  does  not 


90  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL, 

enter  into  the  play.  The  chief  point, 
nevertheless,  is  to  avoid  that  tell-tale 
glance  at  the  right  man  which  is  so  dif- 
ficult to  omit. 

When  the  opponents  have  the  ball, 
the  quarter  makes  an  extra  man  in  or 
near  the  forward  line,  and,  as  a  rule,  he 
can  by  his  shrewdness  make  it  very  un- 
comfortable for  any  point  in  the  line 
which  he  chooses  to  assail.  No  law  can 
govern  his  tactics  in  this  respect,  but  he 
should  be  a  law  unto  himself,  and  show 
by  his  cleverness  that  he  is  more  valu- 
able than  any  man  in  the  line  whose 
position  is  fixed.  One  caution  only  is 
worth  giving  to  the  quarter  in  this  line 
of  play,  and  that  is,  to  be  less  free  of 
going  forward  sharply  when  the  play  is 
evidently  to  be  a  run  than  when  a  kick 
is  to  be  attempted.  In  the  latter  case,  a 
quarter  can  always  be  sent  for  his  best. 


THE  HALF-BACK  AND  BACK 


As  the  game  Is  at  present  played,  the 
back  is  more  of  a  third  half-back  than  a 
goal-tend,  and  so  should  be  trained  to 
half-back  work.  It  has  been  well  said 
that  all  that  one  can  ask  of  the  best 
rush  line  is  to  hold  the  ground  their 
half-backs  gain ;  and  when  one  follows 
carefully  the  progress  of  the  play,  he 
sees  that  this  is  the  proper  division  of 
the  work.  The  half-backs,  then,  must 
be  the  ground-gainers  of  the  team.  Such 
work  calls  for  dash  and  fire — that  ability 
to  suddenly  concentrate  all  the  bodily 
energy  into  an  effort  that  must  make 
way  through  anything.  Every  one  has 
such  half-backs  in  mind,  but  unfortu- 
nately many  of  those   half-backs  who 


g4  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

possess  this  type  of  character  have  not 
the  necessary  weight  and  strength  to 
stand  the  amount  of  work  required. 
Although  a  light  man  be  occasionally 
found  who  is  particularly  muscular  and 
wiry,  the  constant  shock  of  going  into  a 
heavy  line  of  forwards  usually  proves 
too  exhausting  for  any  but  those  of 
middle  weight  before  the  end  of  a  sea- 
son be  reached.  It  is  not  that  the  work 
of  a  single  game  proves  too  much  for 
the  light-weight  half.  It  is  that  in  both 
practice  and  games  he  is  so  overmatched 
by  the  weight  of  the  forwards  whom  he 
must  meet  that  every  week  finds- him 
less  strong  than  the  preceding,  until  his 
playing  falls  off  so  markedly  that  the 
captain  or  coach  is  at  last  convinced 
that  there  is  something  wrong,  and  the 
man  is  replaced  by  some  one  else,  often 
too  late  to  bring  the  substitute  up  to 
anything  like  the  mark  he  might  have 


THE   HALF-BACK   AND    BACK.  95 

reached  had  he  been  tried  earlier  in  the 
season.  Such  thoughts  as  these  will 
suggest  themselves  to  the  experienced 
coach  when  at  the  outset  of  a  season  he 
has  placed  before  him  a  number  of  can- 
didates for  the  position  of  half-back, 
among  whom  very  likely  there  may  be 
two  or  three  men  of  perhaps  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  pounds'  weight.  Likely 
enough,  too,  these  men  may  be  at  that 
period  easily  superior  to  the  middle  or 
heavy  weights.  In  such  a  case  the  very 
best  advice  that  can  be  whispered  in  the 
ear  of  coach  or  captain  is,  to  make  quar- 
ters or  ends  of  them,  even  though  it  be 
•only  substitute  quarters  and  ends.  It 
will  leave  the  way  open  for  the  proper 
cultivation  of  half-backs  better  built  to 
stand  the  wear  and  tear  of  a  season. 

Almost  equally  to  be  deprecated  is  the 
waste  of  time  often  devoted  to  making 
half-backs  of  slow  heavy  weights.     Only 


g6  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

a  quick  man  can  perform  a  half-back's 
duties  successfully  ;  and  although  much 
can  be  left  to  practice,  there  must  be 
some  natural  quickness  to  build  upon. 
Slow  men  can  be  improved  far  more 
rapidly  in  the  forward  line  than  among 
the  halves.  All  this  regarding  the 
weight  of  half-backs  applies  not  only 
to  'varsity  teams,  but  school  teams  as 
well,  if  one  will  make  the  proper  pro- 
portional changes  in  weight.  That  is,  a 
'varsity  player  will  be  called  upon  to 
face  a  forward  line  averaging  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy -five  or  thereabouts, 
and  men  of  less  than  one  hundred  and 
thirty-five  to  one  hundred  and  forty  are 
too  light  to  meet  that  weight.  In  school 
teams  the  rush  line  will  be  some  twenty 
pounds  lighter,  and  the  halves  can  there- 
fore be  selected  from  even  one-hundred- 
and-twenty-five-pound  men,  if  well  built. 
In  other  words,  a  half-back  ought  not  to 


JUlI.N    CORBETT. 
Harvard. 


THE    HALF-BACK   AND    BACK.  97 

face  over  twenty-five  pounds'  difference 
in  weight ;  and  the  more  that  difference 
is  reduced,  supposing  that  speed  and 
agihty  be  retained,  the  more  chance 
there  is  of  turning  out  a  thoroughly 
successful  player.  It  is  worth  while  to 
be  thus  particular  upon  the  point  of  the 
early  selection  of  candidates  for  the 
position  of  half-back,  because,  while  no 
more  work  is  demanded  of  them  in  a 
game  than  of  others  of  their  side,  the 
quality  of  that  work  must  be  more  uni- 
formly good.  When  a  half-back  has  to 
tackle,  he  must  be  as  sure  as  a  steel- 
trap  ;  when  a  half-back  has  to  catch,  he 
must  be  a  man  to  be  relied  upon  ;  when 
a  half-back  is  called  upon  for  a  kick, 
it  must  be  no  fluke ;  and,  although  no 
one  expects  a  half-back  to  always  make 
on  his  run  the  five  yards,  he  must  be 
a  man  who  will  not  be  denied  when 
he  is  called  upon  for  that  last  yard 
7 


98  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

which  will  enable  his  side  to  retain  the 
ball. 

Almost  the  first  thing  to  be  critically 
noted  by  the  coach  is  the  way  in  which 
a  half-back  takes  the  ball  from  his  quar- 
ter. The  case  in  which  he  takes  it  di- 
rectly from  the  hands  of  this  player  has 
been  already  dwelt  upon  at  some  length 
under  the  head  of  the  quarter's  passing ; 
but  when  the  ball  is  thrown  or  passed 
some  little  distance,  it  is  just  as  impor- 
tant that  it  be  properly  received.  Ex- 
cept when  about  to  kick,  the  half-back 
should  be  moving  when  he  receives  the 
ball,  and,  more  than  that,  the  reception 
of  it  should  have  no  perceptible  effect 
upon  his  movements.  In  other  words, 
he  must  take  it  as  easily  and  as  natu- 
rally as  a  batsman  in  a  ball  game  drops 
his  bat  after  he  has  hit  the  ball  fairly. 
No  batsman  remembers  that  he  has 
had  the  bat  in  his  hands  after  the  ball 


THE   HALF-BACK   AND   BACK.  99 

has  been  hit,  and  yet,  when  he  is  at  first 
base,  he  has  left  his  bat  behind  him  at 
the  plate.  Thus  a  football  half-back 
should  so  receive  the  ball  as  not  to 
know  the  exact  instant  of  taking  it, 
but  find  that  he  has  it  as  he  comes 
up  to  the  line.  It  will  never  do  for  a 
coach  to  suppose  that  an  inexperienced 
half  can  be  told  that  he  must  take  the 
ball  "  without  knowing  it,"  but  it  is 
necessary  to  explain  to  a  half  that  until 
he  does  take  the  ball  naturally,  and 
without  having  to  stop  and  calculate 
about  it,  he  can  never  come  properly  up 
to  the  line  nor  get  his  whole  power  on 
early.  To  acquire  the  habit  of  taking  a 
pass  easily,  a  half-back  should  spend  a 
little  time  every  day  off  the  field  in 
practising  taking  a  sharp  pass  when  on 
the  run.  By  a  sharp  pass  is  not  meant 
hurling  the  ball  with  all  possible  force 
against  a  runner  so  that  he  is  nearly 


lOO  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

knocked  over  by  it,  and  cannot  by  any 
possibility  catch  it  except  at  the  ex- 
pense of  giving  the  catch  his  sole  and 
undivided  attention.  Such  passing  in 
practice  does  far  more  harm  than  good. 
The  ball  should  be  passed  with  that 
easy  swing  which  sends  it  rapidly,  accu- 
rately, and  evenly  up  to  the  runner  with- 
out any  great  apparent  force,  for  it  is 
remarkable  how  much  the  appearance 
of  force  tends  to  rattle  the  runner,  who 
easily  handles  fully  as  much  speed  prop- 
erly delivered.  Daily  practice  of  this 
nature  between  the  quarter  and  halves 
accustoms  each  to  the  other,  so  that  the 
regular  work  of  the  team  on  the  field  is 
not  disorganized  by  loose  passing  and 
looser  catching.  While  this  passing  is 
progressing,  the  coach  should  stand  by 
the  side  of  the  half,  and  watch  him 
closely,  correcting  any  careless  tenden- 
cies of  receiving  or  stopping,  and  pay- 


THE    HALF-BACK   AND   BACK.  lOI 

Ing  particular  attention  to  his  going  in 
a  straight  line — that  is,  not  running  up 
to  meet  the  ball  and  then  sheering,  off 
again.  The  best  half-backs  endeavor  to 
receive  the  ball  at  approximately  the 
same  height  relative  to  their  bodies,  no 
matter  how  it  comes,  and  they  will  cor- 
rect quite  a  variation  in  the  quarter's 
throw  by  a  little  stoop  or  a  slight  jump. 
A  half-back  must  be  taught  to  be  uni- 
form in  starting,  and  in  reaching  the  spot 
where  the  ball  is  to  meet  him.  The 
coach  will  have  no  great  difficulty  in 
teaching  him  this  steady  uniformity  of 
pace,  which  will  enable  the  quarter  to 
throw  the  ball  so  as  really  to  assist 
rather  than  retard  his  motion.  There 
are  two  other  things  which  the  half-back 
must  practise  apart  from  his  team-play. 
They  are  kicking  and  catching.  The 
former  is  of  sufficient  importance  to  de- 
serve a  separate  chapter,  but  a  few  hints 


102  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

under  the  half-back  column  will  not  be 
out  of  place.  It  is  usually  the  case  that 
of  all  three  men  behind  the  line,  the  two 
halves  and  the  back,  any  one  can  do  the 
kicking  upon  a  pinch,  but  one  of  the 
three  is,  nine  times  out  of  ten,  mani- 
festly superior  to  the  other  two.  In  this 
state  of  affairs  there  is  altogether  too 
great  a  tendency  to  slight  the  practice 
of  the  two  inferior  kickers,  and  rely  al- 
most entirely  upon  the  best  man.  It  is 
quite  proper  to  let  the  best  man  do  all 
the  kicking  possible  in  an  important 
game,  but  it  is  a  very  short-sighted  pol- 
icy to  neglect  the  practice  of  the  other 
two  during  the  preliminary  games.  Not 
only  should  they  have  the  advantage  to 
be  gained  in  the  length  of  their  kicks  by 
daily  practice,  but  they  should  also  have 
the  steadying  experience  to  be  acquired 
only  in  games.  It  may  happen  at  any 
moment  in  a  most  important  game  that 


THE    HALF-BACK   AND   BACK.  103 

the  kicking  will  devolve  upon  them  on 
account  of  an  accident  to  the  third  man, 
and  it  is,  indeed,  a  foolhardy  captain  or 
coach  who  has  not  taken  sufficient  fore- 
thought for  this  contingency.  The  prin- 
cipal reason  why  we  develop  so  few 
really  good  kickers  is,  that  coaches, 
captains,  and  players  have  given  so  lit- 
tle attention  to  the  detail  of  that  part 
of  the  work.  Fully  nine  tenths  of  the 
men  who  do  the  kicking  upon  American 
teams  are  more  natural  kickers  than 
practised  ones.  Let  me  explain  this  so 
as  to  be  fully  understood.  As  in  box- 
ing one  often  sees  a  man  who,  having 
taken  no  lessons,  and  being  therefore 
unable  to  make  the  most  of  himself, 
can  yet  more  than  hold  his  own  against 
a  more  finished  opponent  on  account  of 
his  natural  quickness,  strength,  and  apti- 
tude ;  so  in  football  one  sees  here  and 
there  a  man  who  is  able  to  do  some  fair 


I04  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

kicking  without  having  devoted  particu- 
lar attention  to  it.  In  boxing,  however, 
when  a  teacher  takes  the  natural  hitter 
in  hand,  he  begins  by  putting  him  at 
work  upon  the  rudiments  of  guarding, 
holding  himself  upon  his  feet,  hitting 
straight,  and  moving  firmly.  He  never 
undertakes  to  make  a  first-class  man  of 
him  by  merely  encouraging  him  to  go 
in  harder,  and  increase  his  power  with- 
out regard  to  the  proper  methods.  In 
football,  coaches  rarely  teach  the  kick- 
ers the  first  principles,  but  instead  urge 
upon  them  only  the  necessity  of  con- 
stant practice  in  their  own  way.  For 
this  reason  our  kickers  show  all  manner 
of  styles,  and  the  only  wonder  is  that 
they  kick  so  well  in  such  wretchedly 
bad  form. 

While  it  is  neither  advisable  nor  nec- 
essary that  a  kicker  be  prevented  from 
attempting  to  kick  hard  until  he  has 


KNOWLTON  L.  AMES. 
Princeton. 


THE   HALF-BACK   AND   BACK.  105 

mastered  every  detail  of  the  swing  and 
brought  it  to  the  same  point  of  perfec- 
tion that  a  finished  oarsman  does  his 
stroke,  it  certainly  is  best,  in  his  prac- 
tice, to  subordinate  power  to  method 
until  he  acquire  good  form. 

The  coach  should  take  his  man  in 
hand  by  watching  him  make  a  half- 
dozen  kicks  in  his  own  way.  Then  he 
should  select  the  worst  of  his  faults, 
and  show  him  why  it  is  a  fault,  and 
how  to  correct  it.  He  should  keep 
him  upon  this  one  point  for  a  few  days, 
until  he  is  convinced  that  there  will  be 
no  backsliding,  and  then  begin  upon 
the  next.  In  this  way  a  few  weeks  will 
serve  to  make  a  second-class  man  a  good 
one,  and  open  the  way  for  his  becom- 
ing something  out  of  the  ordinary  run 
in  another  season. 

In  judging  the  faults  of  a  kicker,  the 
coach  should  note  just  where  he  gets 


Io6  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

his  power  on,  what  is  the  position  of 
his  leg  and  foot  upon  the  swing,  and 
what  part  of  the  foot  strikes  the  ball. 
These  are  the  principal  points,  and  de- 
serve the  first  attention.  Regarding 
the  first  of  these,  his  power  should  be 
put  on  just  as  his  foot  has  passed  the 
lowest  part  of  the  arc  in  which  it  swings, 
and  it  should  meet  the  ball  in  the  up- 
ward sweep  very  soon  after  passing  this 
point.  The  position  of  his  leg  and  foot 
is  to  be  next  noted,  and  the  "  snap 
the  whip  "  phrase  is  as  good  a  one  to 
convey  the  idea  as  any  that  can  be 
adopted.  As  the  leg  begins  to  swing 
the  knee  is  bent  and  the  body  pitched 
a  little  forward,  so  that  the  weight  of 
the  kick  seems  to  start  from  the  hip 
and  travel  down  the  leg  as  it  straight- 
ens, reaching  the  foot  just  as  it  meets 
the  ball,  as  above  mentioned.  As  for 
the  third  point,  the  ball,  when  punted, 


THE    HALF-BACK   AND    BACK.  107 

should  be  struck  between  the  instep  and 
the  toe,  impinging  most  upon  the  for- 
mer. In  a  drop-kick  and  a  place-kick 
the  ball  is  met  by  the  toe,  and  the  sweep 
is  made  with  "  a  longer  leg,"  as  the  ex- 
pression has  it ;  that  is,  the  foot  swings 
nearer — in  fact,  almost  along  the  ground. 
All  these  three  points  can  be  most 
clearly  illustrated  by  noting  the  effect 
of  departures  from  them.  If  the  power 
is  not  put  on  as  above  described,  the 
man  will  simply  send  the  ball  along  the 
ground,  or  will  hook  it  up,  merely  toss- 
ing it  with  his  foot  instead  of  driving  it. 
These  two  are  the  extremes,  of  course ; 
but  they  illustrate  where  the  power  is 
lost  or  wasted.  If  the  leg  be  not  swung 
in  proper  position,  the  ball  will  be  sim- 
ply spatted  with  the  foot,  the  only  force 
coming  from  the  knee.  Finally,  if  the 
ball  be  not  met  with  the  proper  paft  of 
the  foot  it  may  snap  downwards  off  the 


I08  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

toe,  or  be  merely  bunted  by  the  ankle. 
There  is  still  another  thing  to  be  watched, 
which,  while  not  the  kick  proper,  really 
belongs  to  it  as  much  as  the  swing  of  the 
leg.  It  is  the  way  in  which  the  ball  is 
dropped  to  the  foot  from  the  hand  or 
hands.  The  usual  tendency  of  beginners, 
and  many  half-backs  who  could  hardly 
be  classed  in  that  category,  is  to  toss  the 
ball  from  the  hand  ;  that  is,  to  give  it  a 
motion  up  from  thehand,  which,  however 
slight,  causes  much  valuable  time  to  be 
lost.  The  ball  should  always  be  dropped 
to  the  foot,  the  distance  between  the  hand 
and  foot  being  made  as  short  as  possible. 
The  hand  should  be  merely  withdrawn 
just  at  the  proper  moment,  and  with 
practice  it  is  not  difficult  to  make  the 
entire  transfer  from  hand  to  foot  so  rap- 
id as  to  almost  eliminate  any  danger  of 
having  the  ball  stopped  or  struck  during 
that  part  of  the  play.     In  drop -kicking 


THE   HALF-BACK   AND   BACK.  1 09 

the  fall  is  necessarily  greater,  but  it 
should  never  be  a  toss  even  then.  There 
has  been  no  little  argument  as  to  wheth- 
er the  ball  should  be  held  in  one  or  both 
hands  when  about  to  kick,  and  such  are 
the  examples  of  good  kickers  arrayed  on 
both  sides  that  one  cannot  fairly  say 
that  either  way  is  the  only  right  way. 
If  a  player  has  become  so  accustomed  to 
the  two-hand  method  as  to  make  him 
uncomfortable  and  inaccurate  if  forced 
to  the  one-hand  way,  it  is  hardly  ad- 
visable to  make  the  change.  But  any 
player  who  is  taken  early  enough  can 
be  taught  to  drop  the  ball  with  one 
hand,  to  the  great  advantage  of  both  his 
quickness  and  his  ability  to  kick  from 
tight  quarters  or  around  an  opponent. 

The  entire  series  of  motions,  there- 
fore, which  go  to  make  up  a  well-per- 
formed kick  should  be  in  the  coach's 
mind  just  as  the  separate  parts  of  an 


no  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

oarsman's  stroke  are  in  the  boating- 
man's  mind  when  coaching  a  crew. 
The  ball  dropped,  not  tossed ;  the  leg 
well  swung,  the  power  coming  from 
both  leg  and  hip  with  all  the  advantage 
that  the  poise  of  the  body  may  add  ;  the 
foot  meeting  the  ball  with  the  forward 
part  of  the  instep  on  a  punt,  with  the 
toe  on  a  drop,  and  in  either  case  just 
after  passing  the  lowest  point  of  the 
arc  of  swing,  rather  later  on  a  punt  than 
a  drop,  because  the  ground  helps  the  lat- 
ter to  rise,  while  the  rise  of  the  former 
must  come  entirely  from  the  foot.  The 
next  step  in  the  education  of  the  kicker 
is  the  side  swing.  The  ball  cannot  be 
kicked  as  far  when  met  directly  in  front 
of  the  kicker — his  leg  swinging  straight, 
as  it  would  in  taking  a  step  in  running 
— as  it  can  be  kicked  by  taking  a  side 
sweep  with  the  leg  and  body,  the  hips 
acting  as  a  sort  of  pivot. 


THE    HALF-BACK   AND    BACK.  Ill 

One  of  the  most  common  false  ideas 
regarding  this  side  kick  is,  that  it  is  not 
performed  with  the  same  part  of  the 
foot  as  the  straight  punt,  but  that  the 
ball  is  struck  by  the  side  of  the  foot. 
Of  course,  this  is  all  wrong.  The  foot 
meets  the  ball  as  fairly  and  directly  as 
it  does  in  the  ordinary  straight  kick, 
and  the  ball  impinges  upon  the  top  of 
the  instep  and  toe  just  as  before,  the 
word  "side"  referring  to. the  swing  of 
the  leg  and  position  of  the  body  only. 

All  the  suggestions  thus  far  have  been 
applicable  to  both  half-backs  and  back, 
but  before  bringing  the  chapter  to  an 
end  it  is  well  to  note  a  few  of  the  spe- 
cial features  of  the  full-back's  position. 
The  place  originally  was  that  of  a  goal- 
tend,  but  with  the  increase  of  the  ag- 
gressive system  of  defence  his  duties 
have  become  more  those  of  a  third  half- 
back.    Other  things  being  equal,  it  is 


112  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

eminently  proper  to  select  as  a  full-back 
an  exceptionally  strong  tackier ;  but  as 
for  placing  tackling  ability  above  that  of 
kicking,  that  is  a  mistake  which  might 
have  been  made  six  years  ago,  but  of 
which  no  coach  or  captain  would  to-day 
be  guilty. 

The  importance  of  the  position  is  rap- 
idly growing,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  time  will  come  in  another  year,  if  it 
be  not  already  here,  when  the  selection 
of  the  three  men  behind  the  line  will  be 
after  this  fashion — namely,  picking  out 
the  three  best  half-backs,  all  things  con- 
sidered, then  selecting  that  one  of  the 
three  whose  kicking  is  the  best,  and 
making  him  the  third  half  or  full  back. 
After  the  man  has  been  in  this  way 
chosen  there  will  devolve  upon  him 
certain  duties  which  do  not  commonly 
fall  to  the  lot  of  the  other  two  half- 
backs.     Chiefest    among    these    is   the 


W.  C.  RHODES. 
Yale. 


THE    HALF-BACK  AND    BACK.  II3 

duty  of  making  a  running  return  of  a 
kick.  The  opponents  have  sent  a  punt 
down  towards  him,  which  he  secures 
while  the  opponents  are  still  some  yards 
away  from  him,  although  they  are  com- 
ing down  rapidly.  In  this  case,  a  thor- 
oughly finished  player  will  not  only  gain 
a  few  steps  before  he  takes  his  kick,  but 
he  will  take  that  kick  on  the  run,  some- 
times dodging  the  first  man  before  tak- 
ing the  kick.  A  full-back  who  can  do 
this  and  never  lose  his  kick  is  the  great- 
est kind  of  a  treasure  for  any  team,  and 
it  is  worth  a  captain's  while  to  devote  a 
good  bit  of  attention  to  the  full-back's 
perfecting  this  special  feature  of  his  play. 
He  will  also  be  likely  to  have  the  long 
place-kicking  to  do.  In  fact,  it  is  prop- 
er to  practise  him  at  this,  because,  if  he 
be  the  best  punter  among  the  men  be- 
hind the  line,  he  can  be  made  the  long- 
est place-kicker,  and  few  realize  the  great 


114  AMERICAN   FOOTBALL. 

advantage  of  these  long  place-kicks  to  a 
team  upon  occasion  of  fair  catches. 

Tackling,  when  it  does  fall  to  the  lot 
of  a  full-back,  comes  with  an  importance 
the  like  of  which  no  other  player  is  ever 
called  upon  to  face.  It  usually  means 
a  touch-down  if  he  misses.  For  prac- 
tice of  this  kind  it  is  well  to  play  the 
Varsity  back  once  in  a  while  upon  the 
scrub  side.  This  is  likely  to  improve 
the  speed  of  his  kicking  also. 


SIGNALS 


When  Rugby  football  was  first  adopt- 
ed in  this  country,  it  was  against  a  strong 
feeling  that  it  would  never  make  prog- 
ress against  what  had  been  known  as 
the  American  game.  This  old-fashioned 
game  was  much  more  like  the  British 
Association  in  a  rather  demoralized  state. 
Not  only  was  there  no  such  thing  as  off- 
side, but  one  of  the  chief  features  consist- 
ed in  batting  the  ball  with  the  fist,  at 
which  many  became  sufificiently  expert 
to  drive  the  ball  almost  as  far  as  the 
ordinary  punter  now  kicks  it.  There 
was  very  little  division  of  players  by 
name,  although  they  strung  out  along 
the  field,  and  one  (known  as  the  "pea- 
nutter" — why,  no  one  knows)  played  in 


Il8  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

the  enemies'  goal.  Coming  to  players 
accustomed  to  this  heterogeneous  ming- 
ling, it  is  no  great  wonder  that  the  first 
days  of  Rugby  were  characterized  by 
even  less  system  than  that  displayed  in 
the  old  game. 

The  first  division  of  players  was  into 
rushers,  half-backs,  and  a  goal-tend.  The 
rushers  had  but  little  regard  for  their  rel- 
ative positions  in  the  line ;  and  as  for  their 
duties,  one  can  easily  imagine  how  little 
they  corresponded  with  those  of  the  rush- 
er of  to-day  when  it  is  said  that  it  was 
by  no  means  unusual  for  one  of  them  to 
pick  up  the  ball  and  punt  it. 

The  snap-back  and  quarter-back  play 
soon  defined  these  two  positions,  and 
shortly  after  the  individual  rush-line  po- 
sitions became  distinct,  both  as  regards 
location  and  duties.  All  this  was  an  era 
of  development  of  general  play  with  but 
few  particular  combinations  or  marks  of 


SIGNALS.  119 

strategy.  If  a  man  made  a  run,  he  made 
it  for  the  most  part  wherever  he  saw  the 
best  chance  after  receiving  the  ball,  and 
he  made  it  unaided  to  any  degree  by 
his  comrades.  If  the  ball  was  kicked, 
it  was  at  the  option  of  the  man  receiv- 
ing it,  and  the  forwards  did  not  know 
whether  he  would  kick  or  run. 

It  was  at  this  point  that  the  demand 
for  signals  first  showed  itself.  The  rush- 
ers began  to  insist  upon  it  that  they  must 
be  told  in  some  way  whether  the  play 
was  to  be  a  kick  or  a  run.  They  main- 
tained quite  stoutly  and  correctly  that 
there  was  no  reason  in  their  chasing 
down  the  field  when  the  half-backs  did 
not  kick.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  for- 
wards even  went  so  far  as  to  contend 
that  the  running-game  should  be  en- 
tirely dropped  in  favor  of  one  based 
upon  long  kicks  well  followed  up.  Fail- 
ing to  establish  this  opinion,  they  nev- 


I20  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

ertheless  brought  it  about  that  they 
should  be  told  by  some  signal  what  the 
play  was  to  be,  and  so  be  spared  useless 
running.  This  was  probably  the  first  of 
the  present  complicated  system  of  sig- 
nals, although  at  about  the  same  time 
some  teams  took  up  the  play  of  making 
a  rather  unsatisfactory  opening  for  a 
runner  in  the  line,  and  made  use  of  a 
signal  to  indicate  the  occasions  when 
this  was  to  be  done.  The  signalling  of 
the  quarter  to  the  centre-rush  as  to  when 
the  ball  should  be  played  antedated  this 
somewhat,  but  can  hardly  be  classed 
with  signals  for  the  direction  of  the  play 
itself. 

To-day  the  teams  which  meet  to  de- 
cide the  championship  are  brought  up 
to  the  execution  of  at  least  twenty-five 
different  plays,  each  of  which  is  called  for 
by  a  certain  distinct  signal  of  its  own. 

The  first  signals  given  were  "  word 


p.  D.  TRAFFORD. 
Harvard. 


SIGNALS.  121 

signals ;"  that  is,  a  word  or  a  sentence 
called  out  so  that  the  entire  team  might 
hear  it  and  understand  whether  a  kick 
or  a  run  was  to  be  made.  Then,  when 
signals  became  more  general,  "sign  sig- 
nals" (that  is,  some  motion  of  the  hand 
or  arm  to  indicate  the  play)  were  brought 
in  and  became  for  a  time  more  popular 
than  the  word  signals,  particularly  upon 
fields  where  the  audience  pressed  close 
upon  the  lines,  and  their  enthusiastic 
cheering  at  times  interfered  with  hear- 
ing word  signals.  Of  late  years  nu- 
merical combinations  have  become  most 
popular,  and  as  the  crowd  is  kept  at 
such  a  distance  from  the  side  lines  as  to 
make  it  possible  for  teams  to  hear  those 
signals,  they  have  proven  highly  satis- 
factory. The  numerical  system,  while 
it  can  be  readily  understood  by  the  side 
giving  the  signal,  because  they  know 
the  key,  is  far   more   difficult    for  the 


122  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

opponents  to  solve  than  either  the  old 
word  signals  or  signs.  Still,  the  inge- 
nuity of  captains  is  generally  taxed  to 
devise  systems  that  shall  so  operate  as 
never  to  confuse  their  own  men  and 
yet  completely  mystify  the  opponents 
throughout  the  game.  Clever  forwards 
almost  always  succeed  in  interpreting 
correctly  one  or  two  of  the  signals  most 
frequently  used,  in  spite  of  the  difificulty 
apparent  in  the  solution  of  such  prob- 
lems. The  question  as  to  who  should 
give  the  signals  is  still  a  disputed  one, 
although  the  general  opinion  is  that 
the  quarter-back  should  perform  this 
duty.  There  is  no  question  as  to  the 
propriety  of  the  signals  emanating  from 
that  point,  but  the  discussion  is  as  to 
whether  the  captain  or  the  quarter 
should  direct  the  play.  Of  course  all  is 
settled  if  the  captain  is  himself  a  quarter- 
back, but  even  when  he  is  not  he  ought 


SIGNALS.  1 23 

to  be  able  to  so  direct  his  quarter  pre- 
vious to  the  actual  conflict  as  to  make  it 
perfectly  satisfactory  to  have  the  signals 
come  from  the  same  place  as  the  ball. 
It  is  in  that  direction  that  the  eyes 
and  attention  of  every  player  are  more 
or  less  turned,  and  hence  signals  there 
given  are  far  more  certain  to  be  ob- 
served. Moreover,  it  is  sometimes,  and 
by  no  means  infrequently,  necessary  to 
change  a  play  even  after  the  signal  has 
been  given.  This,  if  the  quarter  be 
giving  the  signals,  is  not  at  all  difficult, 
but  is  decidedly  confusing  when  coming 
from  some  other  point  in  the  line. 

The  important  fact  to  be  remembered 
in  selecting  a  system  of  signals  is  that 
it  is  far  more  demoralizing  to  confuse 
your  own  team  than  to  mystify  your 
opponents.  A  captain  must  therefore 
choose  such  a  set  of  signals  as  he  can 
be  sure  of  making  his  own  team  com- 


124  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

prehend  without  difficulty  and  without 
mistake.  When  he  is  sure  of  that,  he 
can  think  how  far  it  is  possible  for  him 
to  disguise  these  from  his  opponents. 
Among  the  teams  which  contest  for 
championship  honors  it  is  unusual  to 
find  any  which  are  not  prepared  for 
emergencies  by  the  possession  either 
of  two  sets  of  signals,  or  of  such  changes 
in  the  manner  of  giving  them  as  to 
make  it  amount  to  the  same  thing. 
Considering  the  way  the  game  is  played 
at  the  present  time,  this  preparation  is 
advisable,  for  one  can  hardly  overesti- 
mate the  demoralizing  effect  it  would 
have  upon  any  team  to  find  their  oppo- 
nents in  possession  of  a  complete  under- 
standing of  the  signals  which  were  di- 
recting the  play  against  them. 

While  it  is  well  for  the  captain  or 
coach  to  arrange  in  his  own  mind  early 
in  the  season  such  a  basis  for  a  code  of 


SIGNALS.  125 

signals  as  to  render  it  adaptable  to  al- 
most indefinite  increase  in  the  number 
of  plays,  it  is  by  no  means  necessary  to 
have  the  team  at  the  outset  understand 
this  basis.  In  fact,  it  is  just  as  well  to 
start  them  off  very  modestly  upon  two 
or  three  signals  which  they  should  learn, 
and  of  which  they  should  make  use  un- 
til the  captain  sees  fit  to  advance  them 
a  peg. 

If,  for  instance,  the  captain  decides 
to  make  use  of  a  numerical  system, 
he  cannot  do  better  to  accustom  his 
men  to  listening  and  following  instruc- 
tions than  to  give  them  three  signals, 
something  like  this:  One-two-three,  to 
indicate  that  the  ball  is  to  be  passed  to 
the  right  half-back,  who  will  endeavor  to 
run  around  the  left  end ;  four-five-six, 
that  the  left  half  will  try  to  run  around 
the  right  end ;  and  seven-eight-nine, 
that  the  back  will  kick.     The  scrub  side 


126  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL, 

will  probably  "  get  on"  to  these  signals 
in  short  order,  and  will  make  it  pleasant 
at  the  ends  for  the  half-backs;  but  this 
will  be  the  best  kind  of  practice  in  team 
work,  and  will  do  no  harm.  After  a  day 
or  two  of  this  it  will  be  time  to  make 
changes  in  the  combination  of  numbers, 
not  only  with  an  idea  of  deceiving  the 
scrub  side,  but  also  to  quicken  the  wits 
of  the  'Varsity  team.  Taking  the 
same  signals  as  a  basis,  the  first,  or 
signal  for  the  right  half-back  to  try  on 
the  left  end,  was  one-two-three — the 
sum  of  these  numbers  is  six.  Take 
that,  then,  as  the  key  to  this  signal,  and 
any  numbers  the  sum  of  which  equals 
six  will  be  a  signal  for  this  play.  For 
instance,  three-three,  or  four-two,  two- 
three-one — any  of  these  would  serve  to 
designate  this  play.  Similarly,  as  the  sig- 
nal for  the  left  half  at  the  right  end  was 
four-five-six,  or  a  total   of  fifteen,  any 


SIGNALS,  127 

numbers  which  added  make  fifteen — 
as  six-six-three,  seven-eight,  or  five-four- 
six — would  be  interpreted  in  this  way. 
Finally,  the  signal  for  a  kick  having 
been  seven-eight-nine,  or  a  sum  of 
twenty-four,  any  numbers  aggregating 
that  total  would  answer  equally  well. 

A  few  days  of  this  practice  will  fit  the 
men  for  any  further  developments  upon 
the  same  lines,  and  accustom  them  to 
listening  and  thinking  at  the  same  time. 
The  greatest  difficulty  experienced  by 
both  captains  and  coaches  since  the  sig- 
nals and  plays  became  so  complicated 
has  been  to  teach  green  players  not  to 
stop  playing  while  they  listen  to  and 
think  out  a  signal.  By  the  end  of  the 
season  players  are  so  accustomed  to 
the  signals  that  all  this  hesitation  dis- 
appears, and  the  signal  is  so  familiar  as 
to  amount  to  a  description  of  the  play 
in  so  many  words. 


128  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

The  Other  two  methods  of  signalling 
by  the  use  of  words  rather  than  numbers, 
and  signs  given  by  certain  movements, 
although  they  have  now  given  way  in 
most  teams  to  numbers,  are  still  made 
use  of,  and  have  merit  enough  to  deserve 
a  line  or  two.  The  word-signal  was 
usually  given  in  the  form  of  a  sentence, 
the  whole  or  any  part  of  which  would 
indicate  the  play.  As,  for  instance,  to 
indicate  a  kick,  the  sentence  "  Play  up 
sharp,  Charlie."  If  the  quarter,  or  who- 
ever gave  the  signals,  should  call  out, 
"  Play  up,"  or  "  Play  up  sharp,"  or 
"  Play,"  or  "  Charlie,"  he  would  in  each 
instance  be  giving  the  signal  for  a  kick. 
Sign-signals  are  more  difficult  to  dis- 
guise, but  are  none  the  less  very  effec- 
tive, especially  where  there  is  a  great 
"amount  of  noise  close  to  the  ropes.  A 
good  example  of  the  sign-signal  is  the 
touching  of  some  part  of  the  body  with 


H.  H,  KNAPP. 
Yale. 


SIGNALS,  129 

the  hand.  For  instance,  half-back  run- 
ning would  be  denoted  by  placing  the 
hand  on  the  hip,  the  right  hip  for  the 
left  half,  and  the  left  hip  for  the  right 
half,  A  kick  would  be  indicated  by 
placing  the  hand  upon  the  neck.  Par- 
ticular care  should  be  exercised  when 
sign-signals  are  to  be  used  that  the  ones 
selected,  while  similar  to  the  acts  per- 
formed naturally  by  the  quarter  in 
stooping  over  to  receive  the  ball,  are 
never  exactly  identical  with  these  mo- 
tions, else  there  will  likely  enough  be 
confusion. 

No  matter  what  method  of  signalling 
be  used,  there  is  one  important  feature 
to  be  regarded,  and  that  is,  some  means 
of  altering  the  play  after  a  signal  has 
been  given.  This  is,  of  course,  a  very 
simple  thing,  and  the  usual  plan  is  to 
have  some  word  which  means  that  the 
signal  already  given  is  to  be  considered 
9 


130  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL, 

void,  and  a  new  signal  will  be  given  in 
its  place.  There  should  also  be  some 
way  of  advising  the  team  of  a  change 
from  one  set  of  signals  to  another,  should 
such  a  move  become  necessary.  It  is 
very  unwise  not  to  be  prepared  for  such 
an  emergency,  because  if  a  captain  is 
obliged  to  have  time  called  and  person- 
ally advise  his  team  one  by  one  of  such 
a  change,  the  opponents  are  quite  sure 
to  see  it  and  to  gain  confidence  from 
the  fact  that  they  have  been  clever 
enough  to  make  such  a  move  necessary. 


TRAINING 


At  the  present  advanced  athletic  era 
there  are  very  few  who  do  not  under- 
stand that  a  certain  amount  of  prepa- 
ration is  absolutely  essential  to  success 
in  any  physical  effort  requiring  strength 
and  endurance.  The  matter  of  detail 
is,  however,  not  faced  until  one  actually 
becomes  a  captain  or  a  coach,  and,  as 
such,  responsible  for  the  condition,  not 
of  himself  alone,  but  of  a  team  of  fif- 
teen or  twenty  men. 

Experience  regarding  his  own  needs 
will  have  taught  him  the  value  of  care 
and  work  in  this  line ;  but,  unless  he 
differs  greatly  from  the  ordinary  captain 
upon  first  assuming  the  duties  of  that 
position,  his  knowledge  of  training  will 


134  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

be  confined  to  an  understanding  of  his 
own  requirements,  coupled  with  the 
handed-down  traditions  of  the  preced- 
ing captains  and  teams.  When  he  finds 
himself  in  this  position  and  considers 
what  lines  of  training  he  shall  lay  down 
for  his  team,  unless  he  be  an  inordinate- 
ly conceited  man  he  will  wish  he  had 
made  more  of  a  study  of  this  art  of 
preparation,  especially  in  the  direction 
most  suited  to  the  requirements  of  his 
own  particular  sport. 

Many  inquiries  from  men  about  to 
undertake  the  training  of  a  team  have 
led  me  to  believe  that,  even  at  the 
expense  of  going  over  old  ground,  it 
will  be  well  in  this  book  to  map  out  a 
few  of  the  important  features  of  a  course 
of  training.  It  should  go  without  say- 
ing that  there  are  infinite  variations  in 
systems  of  this  kind ;  but  if  a  man  will 
carry  in  mind  the  reasons  rather  than 


TRAINING.  135 

the  rules,  he  has  always  a  test  to  apply 
which  will  enable  him  to  make  the  most 
of  whatever  system  he  adopts. 

He  should  remember  that  training 
ought  to  be  a  preparation  by  means  of 
which  his  men  will  at  a  certain  time 
arrive  at  the  best  limits  of  their  mus- 
cular strength  and  activity,  at  the  same 
time  preserving  that  equilibrium  most 
conducive  to  normal  health.  Such  a 
preparation  can  be  accomplished  by  the 
judicious  use  of  the  ordinary  agents  of 
well-being  —  exercise,  diet,  sleep,  and 
cleanliness. 

One  can  follow  out  the  reasons  for  or 
against  any  particular  point  in  a  system 
rather  better  if  he  cares  to  see  why  these 
agents  act  towards  health  and  strength. 

Exercise  is  a  prime  requisite,  because 
the  human  mechanism,  unlike  the  inani- 
mate machine,  gains  strength  from  use. 
Muscular  movement  causes  disintegra- 


136  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

tion  and  death  of  substance,  but  at  the 
same  time  there  is  an  increased  flow  of 
blood  to  the  part,  and  that  means  an  in- 
creased supply  of  nourishment  and  in- 
creased activity  in  rebuilding.  As  Mac- 
Laren  has  expressed  it,  strength  means 
newness  of  the  muscle.  The  amount 
and  quality  of  this  exercise  will  be  treat- 
ed of  later  in  this  chapter. 

In  considering  the  matter  of  Diet,  a 
captain  or  coach  should  think  of  this 
question  not  according  to  the  tradition 
of  his  club,  nor  according  to  his  own 
idiosyncrasies.  He  should  regard  the 
general  principle  of  not  depriving  a  man 
of  anything  to  which  he  is  accustomed 
and  which  agrees  with  him.  Of  course, 
it  is  advisable  to  do  without  such  arti- 
cles of  food  as  would  be  injurious  to  the 
majority  of  the  men,  even  though  there 
might  be  one  or  two  to  whom  they 
would  do  no  harm.     Men  should  enjoy 


A.  J.  CUMNOCK. 
Harvard. 


TRAINING.  137 

their  food,  and  it  should  be  properly- 
served.  I  remember  once  being  asked 
my  opinion  regarding  a  certain  team 
at  the  time  in  training,  and  I  expressed 
the  conviction  that  something  was 
wrong  with  their  diet.  The  team,  as  a 
whole,  were  not  seriously  affected,  but 
some  three  or  four  were  manifestly  out 
of  sorts.  I  heard  the  coach  go  over  the 
bill  of  fare,  and  it  sounded  all  right.  I 
then  decided  to  take  dinner  with  them 
and  see  if  I  could  discover  the  trouble. 
One  meal  was  sufficient,  for  it  was  a 
meal !  The  beef  —  and  an  excellent 
roast  it  was,  too — was  literally  served  in 
junks,  such  as  one  might  throw  to  a  dog. 
The  dishes  were  dirty,  so  was  the  cloth. 
Vegetables  were  dumped  on  to  the 
plates  in  a  mess,  and  each  one  grabbed 
for  what  he  wanted.  Some  of  the  men 
might  have  been  brought  up  to  eat  at 
such  a  table,  still  others  were  not  suffi- 


138  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL, 

ciently  sensitive  to  have  their  appetites 
greatly  impaired  by  anything,  but  the 
three  or  four  who  were  "  off  "  were  boys 
whose  home  life  had  accustomed  them 
to  a  different  way  of  dining,  and  their 
natures  revolted.  So,  too,  did  their  ap- 
petites. As  it  was  then  too  late  to  cor- 
rect the  manners  of  the  mess,  I  simply 
advised  sending  these  men  elsewhere 
to  board,  and  they  speedily  came  into 
shape.  I  cannot  too  strongly  advocate 
good  service  at  a  training  table.  The 
men  should  enjoy  their  dinners,  should 
eat  them  slowly,  and  should  be  encour- 
aged to  be  as  long  about  it  as  they  will. 
As  food  is  to  repair  the  waste,  it  should 
be  generous  m  quantity  and  taken  when 
the  man  will  not,  from  being  over-tired, 
have  lost  his  appetite.  Sometimes  a 
team  is  not  overworked,  but  worked  too 
late  in  the  day,  so  that  the  men  rush  to 
the  table  almost  directly  from  the  field, 


TRAINING.  139 

and  fail  to  feel  hungry,  while  within  an 
hour  they  would  have  eaten  with  a  zest. 
This  course  persevered  in  for  several 
days  will  show  its  folly  in  a  general  fall- 
ing-ofT  in  the  strength  as  well  as  the 
weight  of  the  men.  To  train  a  football 
team  should  be,  in  the  matter  of  the 
diet  at  least,  the  simplest  matter  com- 
pared with  training  for  other  sports,  be- 
cause the  season  of  the  year  is  so  favor- 
able to  good  condition. 

Crews  and  ball  nines  have  oftentimes 
the  trial  of  exceptionally  hot  and  ex- 
hausting weather  to  face,  while  a  foot- 
ball team,  after  the  few  warm  days  of 
September  are  passed,  enjoy  the  very 
best  of  bracing  weather — weather  which 
will  give  almost  any  man  who  spends 
his  time  in  out-door  work  a  healthy, 
hearty  appetite.  In  order  that  any 
captain  or  coach  reading  this  book  may 
feel  that,  while  it  offers  several  courses 


140  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

of  diet,  it  would  emphatically  present 
the  fact  that  there  is  no  hard-and-fast 
system  of  diet  that  must  be  religiously 
followed,  I  submit  a  variety  of  tables, 
showing  some  old  as  well  as  new  school 
diets.  None  of  them  are  very  bad,  sev- 
eral are  excellent ;  and  I  don't  think  that 
a  captain  or  coach  would  be  called  upon 
to  draw  his  pencil  through  very  many 
of  the  items  enumerated. 


JEREMIAH    S.   BLACK. 
Princeton. 


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148 


SYSTEM  OF  JACKSON  AND  GODBOLD. 

Breakfast.  —  Stale  or  whole -meal 
bread,  or  toast,  a  little  butter,  plenty  of 
marmalade  if  you  like,  but  not  jam.  Ba- 
con and  eggs,  or  chops  or  steaks,  with  wa- 
tercress if  obtainable.  To  those  who  like 
it,  a  basin  of  oatmeal  porridge,  properly 
made,  taken  with  pure  milk  about  an  hour 
before  breakfast,  is  an  excellent  thing, 
and  has  a  very  beneficial  effect  upon 
the  stomach,  but  it  should  not  be  taken 
every  day.  It  is  better  to  miss  it  ever)' 
third  day,  or  to  take  it  regularly  for  a 
fortnight  and  then  omit  it  from  the  next 
week's  diet,  as  the  too  frequent  use  of 
it  is  rather  injurious  to  the  skin  of  some 
persons.  Tea — not  too  strong — is  better 
than  coffee.     Good  ripe  fruit  is  a  cap- 


150  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

ital  adjunct  to  the  breakfast-table,  and 
is  an  excellent  article  of  food. 

Dinner.  —  Lamb,  mutton,  beef,  fowl 
(tender  and  boiled),  varied  by  fish,  of 
which  haddock,  whiting,  and  soles  are 
the  best,  with  potatoes  (well  boiled,  and 
not  much  of  them),  and  well -cooked 
vegetables,  followed  by  a  small  allow- 
ance of  light  farinaceous  pudding  or 
stewed  fruit,  will  be  a  good,  wholesome 
diet.  If  you  want  bread,  have  it  stale. 
Never  eat  new  bread.  Avoid  all  sauces, 
or  made  dishes,  and  adhere  to  plain  food 
only.  One  thing  we  would  particular- 
ly impress  upon  the  reader,  and  that  is 
never  to  take  his  exercise  immediately 
before  or  after  meals,  nothing  is  more  in- 
jurious, or  likely  to  produce  indigestion, 
and  its  concomitant  evils.  Some  author- 
ities abjure  the  use  of  sugar,  but  taken  in 
moderation  it  is  not  injurious.  A  well- 
known  champion  of  our  acquaintance, 


C.  O.  GILL. 
Yale. 


TRAINING.  151 

when  in  the  pink  of  condition,  was  wont 
to  amuse  himself  by  eating  the  contents 
of  a  sugar  basin,  if  one  were  inadvert- 
ently left  near  him,  and  without  feeling 
any  ill  effects  from  so  doing.  Our  read- 
ers need  not  follow  his  example,  for  al- 
though it  might  suit  him,  it  probably 
would  not  agree  with  them.  We  have 
said,  take  sugar  in  moderatiofi.  Now,  in 
this  last  word  lies  all  the  lectures  one 
can  give  on  this  subject.  Be  moderate 
in  all  things,  one  might  say,  but  above 
all  things  be  moderate  in  the  use  of  all 
edibles  not  actually  necessary  to  sup- 
port the  increased  exertion  which  a  man 
in  training  is  called  upon  to  perform. 
No  liquid  should  be  taken  except  with, 
or  just  after  meals,  but  we  would  not 
advise  stinting  the  quantity  too  much. 
In  summer  three  or  four  pints,  and  in 
winter  two  or  three  pints  per  diem 
would  be  about  the  quantity.     Never 


152  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

drink  just  before  exercise,  and  it  is  bet- 
ter not  to  drink  just  before  going  to 
bed.  In  fact,  the  less  one  has  to  digest 
when  retiring  for  sleep  the  better,  and 
be  sure  not  to  drink  tea  late  at  night. 

Tea,  or  SUPPER,  should  be  taken  at 
least  two  hours  before  bedtime,  and  we 
would  allow  a  small  chop,  or  some  light 
fish,  bread,  and  very  little  butter,  with 
some  ripe  fruit.  The  best  meal  to  take 
before  a  race,  and  which  should  be  taken 
about  two  hours  before  starting-time,  is 
the  lean  of  mutton-chops  and  a  little 
dry  toast.  We  have  said  that  no  liquids 
should  be  taken  except  at  meal-times; 
but  we  do  not  intend  to  state  that  if  a 
man  be  very  thirsty  he  may  not  touch 
them.  If  he  does  so,  it  must  be  a  very 
small  quantity.  Thirst  can  often  be  as- 
suaged by  rinsing  the  mouth  out  with 
cold  water,  and  this  is  by  far  the  better 
plan  if  it  is  efificacious. 


A    COMMON-SENSE    SYSTEM. 

One  author  says :  "  Rise  at  six ; 
bathe ;  take  about  two  ounces  (a  small 
cup)  of  coffee  with  milk :  this  is  really 
a  stimulating  soup.  Then  light  exer- 
cise, chiefly  devoted  to  lungs ;  a  little 
rest ;  the  breakfast  of  meat,  bread,  or 
oatmeal,  vegetables,  with  no  coffee ;  an 
hour's  rest.  Then  the  heaviest  exer- 
cise of  the  day.  This  is  contrary  to 
rule ;  but  I  believe  the  heaviest  exer- 
cise should  be  taken  before  the  heav- 
iest meal ;  a  rest  before  dinner.  This 
meal,  if  breakfast  be  taken  at  seven 
or  eight,  should  be  at  one  or  two, 
not  leaving  a  longer  interval  than  five 
hours  between  the  meals.  At  din- 
ner, again  meat,  vegetables,  bread,  per- 


154  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

haps  a  half -pint  of  malt  liquor,  no 
sweets.  Then  a  longer  rest ;  exercise 
till  five.  Supper  light  —  bread,  milk, 
perhaps  with  an  egg.  Half  an  hour 
later  a  cup  of  tea,  and  bed  at  nine." 


J.   B.   O'REILLY. 

Seven  o'clock  is  a  good  time  for  an 
athlete  in  training  to  rise.  He  ought 
to  get  a  good  dry-  rubbing,  and  then 
sponge  his  body  with  cold  water,  or 
have  a  shower-bath,  with  a  thorough 
rubbing  afterwards.  He  will  then  go 
out  to  exercise  before  breakfast,  not  to 
run  hard,  as  is  commonly  taught,  but  to 
walk  briskly  for  an  hour,  while  exercis- 
ing his  lungs  in  deep-breathing.  Before 
this  walk,  an  egg  in  a  cup  of  tea,  or 
something  of  the  kind,  should  be  taken. 

The  breakfast  need  not  always  con- 
sist of  a  broiled  mutton-chop  or  cutlet ; 
a  broiled  steak,  broiled  chicken,  or 
broiled  fish,  or  some  of  each,  may  be 
taken  with  tea  or  coffee. 


156  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

Dinner  may  be  far  more  varied  than 
is  usually  allowed  by  the  trainer's  "  sys- 
tem." Any  kind  of  butcher's  meat, 
plainly  cooked,  with  a  variety  of  fresh 
vegetables,  may  be  taken,  with  ordinary 
light  puddings,  stewed  fruit,  but  no 
pastry.  A  good  time  for  dinner  is  one 
o'clock. 

An  American  athlete,  when  thirsty, 
ought  to  have  only  one  drink — water. 
The  climate  and  the  custom  in  England 
favor  the  drinking  of  beer  or  claret; 
but,  beyond  question,  the  best  drink  for 
a  man  in  training  is  pure  water.  After 
dinner,  rest,  but  no  dozing  or  siesta. 
This  sort  of  rest  only  spoils  digestion, 
and  makes  men  feel  slack  and  "  limp." 

Supper,  at  six  o'clock,  should  not  be 
a  second  dinner;  but  neither  should  it 
consist  of  "  slops  "  or  gruel.  The  ath- 
lete ought  to  be  in  bed  by  ten  o'clock, 
in  a  room  with  open  window,  and   a 


E.  C.    PEACE. 
Princeton. 


TRAINING.  157 

draught  through  the  room,  if  possible, 
though  not  across  the  bed. 

The  American  football  captain  or 
coach  should  bear  in  mind,  when  read- 
ing these  various  systems,  that  the  use 
of  ale  and  port  seems  to  be  much  bet- 
ter borne  by  those  who  live  in  the  Eng- 
lish climate  than  upon  this  side  the 
water. 

Also,  that  stiff  exercise  before  break- 
fast has  not  been  proven  advantageous 
to  our  athletes  except  as  a  flesh-reducer, 
and  then  only  in  exceptionally  vigorous 
constitutions. 

Also,  that  tea  is  not  as  popular  with 
us  as  with  the  men  who  train  in  Eng- 
land. 


SLEEP    AND    CLEANLINESS. 

To  come  to  the  third  agent  of  health 
enumerated  some  pages  back,  Sleep. 
As  a  rule,  it  is  not  a  difficult  matter  to 
see  that  members  of  a  football  team 
take  the  requisite  amount  of  sleep. 
There  are  occasions,  as  in  college,  when 
some  society  event  of  unusual  impor- 
tance tempts  the  men  to  sit  up  late,  but 
with  such  exceptions  as  these  there  is 
no  great  difficulty  experienced  in  mak- 
ing the  majority  of  the  men  keep  good 
hours.  And  this  is  growing  more  and 
more  simple  as  athletics  become  more 
general,  for  they  take  the  place  of  much 
of  the  dissipation  which  was  formerly 
the  only  outlet  for  the  superabundant 
animal  spirits  of  young  men.     In  the 


TRAINING.  159 

case,  however,  of  the  occasional  candi- 
date for  the  team  who  comes  under  the 
captain's  eye  as  inchned  to  late  hours, 
there  must  be  the  strictest  kind  of  dis- 
cipline shown.  Such  a  man  is  the  very- 
one  whose  stamina  will  be  affected  after 
a  while  by  lack  of  sleep,  and  that  too  at 
a  time  when  the  rest  of  the  men  are  near- 
ing  the  perfection  of  condition.  Thus  he 
will  be  found  falling  off  at  the  very  time 
when  it  is  a  most  serious  matter  very  like- 
ly to  fill  his  position  with  a  new  man. 
Eight  or  nine  hours  sleep  should  be  in- 
sisted upon,  and  that  sleep  should  be 
taken  with  regularity.  In  fact,  not  only 
the  sleep,  but  the  meals  and  the  exercise, 
should  all  be  made  as  nearly  regular,  re- 
garding hours,  as  possible.  Men  should 
have  separate  rooms,  and  particularly 
when  off  upon  trips  they  should  not 
sleep  together.  Plenty  of  fresh  air 
should    be   admitted    to    the    sleeping- 


l6o  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

room,  but  draughts  are  to  be  avoided. 
This  is  not  because  every  time  the  air 
blows  upon  a  man  he  is  liable  to  con- 
tract a  severe  cold,  for  the  chances  are 
against  this,  but  because  there  are  times 
when  he  is  particularly  prone  to  such 
an  accident,  and  if  he  is  in  the  habit  of 
sleeping  without  regard  to  draughts  it 
is  not  likely  that  he  will  take  precau- 
tions then.  If  a  man  has,  for  instance, 
played  an  especially  stiff  game  and 
upon  a  muggy  and  exhausting  day,  he 
will  undoubtedly  turn  in  thoroughly 
tired  out,  and  perhaps  still  somewhat 
heated.  Now  if  he,  when  in  that  state, 
sleeps  in  a  draught,  he  will  probably 
find  himself  very  lame  in  the  morning, 
even  though  he  escape  other  more  seri- 
ous consequences.  Just  one  more  word 
of  caution  regarding  sleep,  and  that  is 
in  the  matter  of  obtaining  a  good 
night's  rest  just  before  the  important 


W.  HEFFELFINGER, 
Yale. 


TRAINING.  l6l 

match  of  the  season.  To  insure  J^is  is 
to  do  much  towards  securing  the  best 
work  of  which  the  men  are  capable 
from  the  team  upon  the. following  day. 

First  and  foremost,  they  should  not  be 
allowed  to  talk  about  the  game  or  the 
signals  or  anything  connected  with  foot- 
ball during  that  evening.  If  possible, 
they  should  do  something  to  entirely 
divert  their  minds  from  all  thought  of 
the  game.  Nor  should  they  be  hustled 
off  to  bed  an  hour  or  two  earlier  than 
usual.  Rather  ought  it  to  be  a  half-hour 
later,  for  then  the  chances  are  that  the 
men  drop  off  to  sleep  immediately  in- 
stead of  tossing  about,  thinking  of  the 
exciting  event  of  the  morrow. 

Finally,  as  to  overtrained  men,  and 
that  restlessness  and  inability  to  sleep 
that  almost  always  comes  with  the 
worst  cases  of  this  kind.  There  is  but 
one  thing  to  do  with  a  man  when  he 
II 


1 62  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

''goes  fine"  to  this  extent,  and  that  is 
to  sever  his  connection  with  the  team 
for  a  time.  If  it  is  early  in  the  season, 
there  is  some  chance  of  his  recuperating 
rapidly  enough  to  still  become  service- 
able. If  it  is  late,  there  is  no  hope  of 
this.  In  either  case  he  must  neither 
play,  eat,  nor  spend  his  time  with  the 
members  of  the  team.  He  can  do  al- 
most anything  else ;  he  can  go  and 
watch  the  crew  row  or  the  ball  nine 
play  ;  he  can  study  or  read  ;  he  can,  and 
in  fact  should,  do  everything  possible 
to  disassociate  himself  from  football 
and  violent  exercise  for  a  time,  and,  un- 
less the  trouble  has  gone  too  far,  it  will 
only  be  a  couple  of  weeks  before  he 
will  find  himself  coming  out  of  it  all 
right,  and  among  the  first  signs  will  be 
good,  refreshing  sleep. 

To  pass  now  to  the   fourth   of   our 
agents  for  health,  Cleanliness.    It  is  fort- 


TRAINING.  163 

unately  seldom  necessary  to  argue  the 
advantages  of  the  "tub"  or  "sponge 
bath  "  to  our  football  players,  because 
they  are  usually  accustomed  to  it.  A 
daily  splashing  has  been  their  ordinary 
habit.  It  is  well  to  mention  also  that  a 
fortnightly  warm  bath  may  be  indulged 
in  to  advantage.  But  with  the  present 
understanding  of  all  these  advantages, 
the  wisest  remarks  that  can  be  made 
are  cautions  as  to  indiscretions  in  the 
use  of  baths.  In  the  first  place,  one 
bath  a  day  is  enough,  and  any  other 
should  be  a  mere  sponging  and  rub- 
bing. Men  who  indulge  in  a  tub  in 
the  morning  and  then  spend  another 
fifteen  minutes  in  a  plunge  after  prac- 
tice in  the  afternoon  get  too  much  of  it. 
Again,  the  habit  of  spending  a  long  time 
under  the  shower  every  day  is  a  mis- 
take. It  feels  so  refreshing  after  a  hard 
practice  that  a  man  is  tempted  to  stay 


164  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

too  long,  and  it  does  him  no  good.  The 
best  and  safest  plan  is  to  take  a  light, 
quick  sponge  bath  in  the  morning  imme- 
diately upon  rising,  and  then,  after  prac- 
tice in  the  afternoon,  to  take  just  a  mo- 
ment under  the  shower,  and  follow  it  by 
a  good  rubbing.  This,  with  the  fort- 
nightly warm  bath,  will  be  all  that  a 
man  may  do  to  advantage. 


A  CHAPTER  FOR  SPECTATORS 


To  those  who  have  never  played  the 
game  of  football,  but  who  chance  to 
open  the  covers  of  this  book,  a  short  ex- 
planation of  the  divisions  and  duties  of 
the  players  will  not  be  out  of  place.  For 
these  this  chapter  is  added. 

The  game  is  played  by  two  teams,  of 
eleven  men  each,  upon  a  field  330  feet 
long  and  160  feet  wide,  at  either  end  of 
which  are  goal-posts  with  a  cross-bar. 

The  ball,  which  is  like  a  large  leather 
egg,  is  placed  in  the  centre  of  this  field, 
and  each  team  endeavors  to  drive  it  in 
the  direction  of  the  opponents'  goal-line, 
where  any  scoring  must  be  done.  Goals 
and  touch-downs  are  the  only  points 
which  count,  and  these  can  be  made 
only  as  follows : 


1 68  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

A  goal  can  be  obtained  by  kicking  the 
ball  in  any  way  except  a  punt  (a  certain 
kind  of  kick  where  the  ball  is  dropped 
by  a  player  and  kicked  before  touching 
the  ground)  over  the  cross-bar  of  the  op- 
ponents'goal.  A  touch-down  is  obtained 
by  touching  the  ball  to  the  ground  be- 
hind the  line  of  the  goal.  So,  in  either 
case,  the  ball  must  cross  the  end  of  the 
field  in  some  way  to  make  any  score. 
The  sole  object,  then,  of  all  the  strug- 
gles which  take  place  in  the  field  is 
to  advance  the  ball  to  a  position  such 
that  scoring  is  possible.  A  firm  grasp 
of  this  idea  usually  simplifies  matters 
very  much  for  the  casual  spectator. 

The  object  of  the  white  lines  which 
cross  the  field  at  every  five  yards  is 
merely  to  assist  the  referee  in  determin- 
ing how  far  the  ball  moves  at  a  time ; 
for  there  is  a  rule  which  states  that  a 
team  must  advance  the  ball  five  yards 


R.  M.  APPLETON. 
Harvard. 


CHAPTER    FOR   SPECTATORS.  1 69 

in  three  attempts  or  retreat  with  it 
twenty.  If  they  do  not  succeed  in  do- 
ing this,  the  other  side  take  possession 
of  the  ball,  and  in  their  turn  try  to  ad- 
vance it. 

There  are  certain  rules  which  govern 
the  methods  of  making  these  advances, 
any  infringement  of  which  constitutes 
what  is  called  a  foul,  and  entails  a  pen- 
alty upon  the  side  making  it. 

Any  player  can  run  with  the  ball  or 
kick  it  if,  when  he  receives  it,  he  is  "  on 
side  " — that  is,  between  the  ball  and  his 
own  goal-line.  He  may  not  take  the 
ball  if  he  is  "off  side"  —  that  is,  be- 
tween the  ball  and  his  opponents'  goal- 
line —  until  an  adversary  has  touched 
the  ball. 

Whenever  a  player  running  with  the 
ball  is  held,  he  must  cry  "  down,"  and  a 
man  of  his  side  then  places  the  ball  on 
the  ground  and  snaps  it  back.     This 


170  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

puts  it  in  play,  and  is  called  a  scrimmage, 
and  this  scrimmage  is  the  most  com- 
monly recurring  feature  of  the  game. 

For  the  purposes  of  advancing  the 
ball  or  repelling  the  attack  of  the  op- 
ponents it  has  proved  advisable  for  a 
captain  to  divide  his  eleven  men  into 
two  general  divisions:  the  forwards  and 
backs.  The  forwards,  of  whom  there 
are  seven,  are  usually  called  rushers,  and 
they  make  practically  a  straight  line 
across  the  field  when  the  ball  is  put  in 
play  on  a  "  down."  Next  behind  them 
is  the  quarter-back,  who  does  the  pass- 
ing of  the  ball  to  one  or  another  of 
the  players,  while  just  behind  him  are 
the  two  half-backs  and  the  back,  usually 
in  something  of  a  triangle  in  arrange- 
ment, with  the  last  named  nearest  the 
goal  which  his  team  is  defending. 

The  following  definitions  will  also  aid 
the  spectator  in  understanding  many  of 


CHAPTER    FOR   SPECTATORS.  171 

the  expressions  used  by  the  devotees  of 
the  sport: 

A  drop-kick  is  made  by  letting  the  ball 
fall  from  the  hands,  and  kicking  it  at  the 
very  instant  it  rises. 

A  place-kick  is  made  by  kicking  the  ball 
after  it  has  been  placed  on  the  ground. 

K  punt  is  made  by  letting  the  ball  fall 
from  the  hands,  and  kicking  it  before  it 
touches  the  ground. 

Kick-off  is  a  place-kick  from  the  centre 
of  the  field  of  play. 

Kick-out  is  a  drop-kick,  or  place-kick,  by 
a  player  of  the  side  which  has  touched  the 
ball  down  in  their  own  goal,  or  into  whose 
touch-in-goal  the  ball  has  gone. 

In  touch  means  out  of  bounds. 

A  fair  is  putting  the  ball  in  play,  from 
touch. 

Afoul  is  any  violation  of  a  rule. 


172  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

A  touch-down  is  made  when  the  ball  is 
carried,  kicked,  or  passed  across  the  goal- 
line  and  there  held,  either  in  goal  or  touch- 
in-goal. 

A  safety  is  made  when  a  player,  guarding 
his  goal,  receives  the  ball  from  a  player  of 
his  own  side,  and  touches  it  down  behind  his 
goal-line,  or  carries  the  ball  across  his  own 
goal-line  and  touches  it  down,  or  puts  the 
ball  into  his  own  touch-in-goal. 

A  touch -hack  is  made  when  a  player 
touches  the  ball  to  the  ground  behind  his 
own  goal,  the  impetus  which  sent  the  ball 
across  the  line  having  been  received  from 
an  opponent. 

Kfair  catch  is  a  catch  made  direct  from  a 
kick  by  one  of  the  opponents,  provided  the 
catcher  made  a  mark  with  his  heel  at  the 
spot  where  he  made  the  catch. 

Interference  is  using  the  hands  or  arms 
in  any  way  to  obstruct  or  hold  a  player  who 
has  not  the  ball. 


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CHAPTER   FOR   SPECTATORS.  1 73 

The  penalty  for  fouls  and  violation  of 
rules,  except  otherwise  provided,  is  a  down 
for  the  other  side ;  or,  if  the  side  making 
the  foul  has  not  the  ball,  five  yards  to  the 
opponents. 

The  following  is  the  value  of  each  point 
in  the  scoring : 

Goal  obtained  by  touch-down,  .  6 
Goal  from  field  kick,  ....  5 
Touch-down  failing  goal,  ...  4 
Safety  by  opponents,  ....       2 

The  rules  w^hich  bear  most  directly 
upon  the  play  are : 

The  time  of  a  game  is  an  hour  and  a  half, 
each  side  playing  forty-five  minutes  from 
each  goal.  There  is  ten  minutes'  intermis- 
sion between  the  two  halves,  and  the  game 
is  decided  by  the  score  of  even  halves. 

The  ball  is  kicked  off  at  the  beginning  of 
each  half;  and  whenever  a  goal  has  been 
obtained,  the  side  which  has  lost  it  shall 
kick  off. 


174  AMERICAN    FOOTBALL. 

A  player  may  throw  or  pass  the  ball  in 
any  direction  except  towards  opponents' 
goal.  If  the  ball  be  batted  or  thrown  for- 
ward, it  shall  go  down  on  the  spot  to  oppo- 
nents. 

If  a  player  having  the  ball  be  tackled  and 
the  ball  fairly  held,  the  man  so  tackling  shall 
cry  "held,"  the  one  so  tackled  must  cry 
"  down,"  and  some  player  of  his  side  put  it 
down  for  a  scrimmage.  If,  in  three  con- 
secutive fairs  and  downs,  unless  the  ball 
cross  the  goal-line,  a  team  shall  not  have 
advanced  the  ball  five  or  taken  it  back 
twenty  yards,  it  shall  go  to  the  opponents 
on  spot  of  fourth. 

If  the  ball  goes  into  touch,  whether  it 
bounds  back  or  not,  a  player  on  the  side 
which  touches  it  down  must  bring  it  to  the 
spot  where  the  line  was  crossed,  and  there 
either  bound  the  ball  in  the  field  of  play,  or 
touch  it  in  with  both  hands,  at  right  angles 
to  the  touch-line,  and  then  run  with  it,  kick 
it,  or  throw  it  back ;  or  throw  it  out  at  right 


CHAPTER   FOR   SPECTATORS.  1 75 

angles  to  the  touch-line ;  or  walk  out  with  it 
at  right  angles  to  touch-line,  any  distance 
not  less  than  five  nor  more  than  fifteen 
yards,  and  there  put  it  down. 

A  side  which  has  made  a  touch-down  in 
their  opponents'  goal  must  try  at  goal. 


THE   END. 


BLAIKIE'S  HOW  TO  6ET  STRONG. 

How  to  Get  Strong,  and  How  to  Stay 
So.  By  William  Blaikie.  Illus- 
trated,     i6mo,  Cloth,  Si  oo. 

Mr.  Blaikie  has  treated  his  theme  in  a 
practical  common-sense  way  that  appeals  at 
once  to  the  judgment  and  the  understanding. 
A  complete  and  healthful  system  of  exercise 
is  given  for  boys  and  girls ;  instructions  are 
set  down  for  the  development  of  every  indi- 
vidual class  of  muscles,  and  there  is  sound 
advice  for  daily  exercise  for  children,  young 
men  and  women,  business  men  and  con- 
sumptives. There  are  instructions  for  home 
gymnastics,  and  an  easy  routine  of  practice 
laid  out. — Saturday  Evening  Gazette,  Boston. 

Every  word  of  it  has  been  tested  and  con- 
firmed by  the  author's  own  experience.  It 
may  be  read  with  interest  and  profit  by  all. 
— Christian  Instructor,  Chicago. 

A  successful  performance,  everything  in 
the  line  of  gymnastic  exercise  receiving  co- 
pious illustrations  by  pen  and  pencil.  The 
author's  aim  is  genuinely  philanthropic,  in 
the  right  sense  of  the  word,  and  his  work  is 
a  useful  contribution  to  the  cause  of  physical 
culture. — Christian  Register,  Boston. 


Published  by  HAEPER  &  BEOTHERS,  NewTorL 

|^p°*  The  above  work  will  be  sent  by  mail,  postage  prepaid, 
to  any  part  of  the  United  States,  Canada,  or  Mexico,  on  receipt 
of  the  price. 


BLAIKIE'S  SOUND  BODIES, 

Sound  Bodies  for  our  Boys  and  Girls. 

By  William  Blaikie.  With  Illus- 
trations. i6mo,  Cloth,  40  cents.  A 
manual  of  safe  and  simple  exercises 
for  developing  the  physical  system. 


Mr.  William  Blaikie's  new  manual  cannot 
fail  to  receive  a  warm  welcome  from  parents 
and  teachers,  and  should  be  introduced  as  a 
working  text-book  into  thousands  of  schools 
throughout  the  country. — Boston  Herald. 

A  book  which  ought  to  be  placed  at  the 
elbow  of  every  school-teacher. — Springfield 
Union. 

The  directions  are  so  simple  and  sensible 
that  they  appeal  to  the  reason  of  every  par- 
ent and  teacher, — Philadelphia  Press. 

The  influence  of  judicious  exercise  upon 
mind  as  well  as  body  cannot  be  overesti- 
mated, and  this  will  be  a  safe  guide  to  this 
end,  requiring  no  costume  nor  expensive 
apparatus. — Presbyterian,  Philadelphia. 


Pubhshed  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  NewYork. 

JE^^  The  above  work  will  be  scut  by  mail,  postage  prepaid, 
to  any  part  of  the  United  States,  Canada,  or  Mexico,  on  receipt 
of  the  price. 


BOOKS  FOR  ANGLERS. 

Fly-Rods  and  Ffy-Tackle.     Suggestions  as  to 

their  Manufacture  and  Use.     By  Henry  P. 

Wells.     Illustrated.     Square    8vo,  Cloth, 

$2  50. 

The  book  is  one  of  great  value,  and  will  take  its 
place  as  a  standard  authority,  and  we  cannot  com- 
mend it  too  highly. — Forest  and  Stream,  New  York. 

An  illustrated  volume,  elegantly  presented,  that 
will  make  all  anglers  jealous  of  possession  until  upon 
their  shelf  or  centre-table. — Boston  Commonwealth. 

Mr.  Wells's  competence  to  expound  the  somewhat 
intricate  principles  and  delicate  processes  of  fly-fish- 
ing will  be  plain  to  any  reader  who  himself  has  some 
practical  acquaintance  with  the  art  discussed.  The 
value  of  the  author's  instructions  and  suggestions  is 
signally  enhanced  by  their  minuteness  and  lucidity, 
—N.  Y.  Sun. 

The  American  Salmon-Fisherman.  By  Henry 
P.  Wells.    Ill'd.     Square  8vo,  Cloth,  $1  00. 

The  success  of  Mr.  Wells's  ' '  Fly-Rods  and  Fly- 
Tackle  "  has  made  his  name  familiar  to  thousands  of 
American  anglers.  "  The  American  Salmon-Fisher- 
man," like  the  former  work,  is  the  fruit  of  the  au- 
thor's long  experience  and  practical  knowledge  of  this 
subject.  The  text  is  illustrated  throughout. — Boston 
Ti-aveller. 

A  practical,  interesting  guide  to  the  sport  of  salm- 
on-fishing. The  tyro  will  read  it  through  profitably; 
the  old  hand  will  not  be  offended  by  it  as  too  ele- 
mentary. The  author  is  alert  and  companionable. — 
Atlantic  Monthly,  Boston. 


Published  by  HAEPEE  &  BEOTHEES,  UewYork. 

|It^°"  Eitlur  0/  the  above  works  will  be  sent  by  mail,  postage 
prepaid,  to  any  part  of  the  United  States,  Canada,  or  Mex- 
ico, on  receipt  of  tlte  price. 


Dr.  C.  C.  ABBOTT'S  WORKS. 


Upland  and  Meadow,  A  Poaetquissings 
Chronicle.  By  Charles  C.  Abbott,  M.D. 
i2mo,  Cloth,  $1  50. 

Delightful  reading  for  students  and  lovers  of  out- 
door nature  ....  Here  the  author  discourses  with  the 
greatest  charm  of  style  about  wood  and  stream,  marsh- 
wrens,  the  spade-foot  toad,  summer,  winter,  trumpet- 
creepers  and  ruby  throats,  September  sunshine,  a  col- 
ony of  grakles,  the  queer  little  dwellers  in  the  water, 
and  countless  other  things  that  the  ordinary  eye  passes 
without  notice  ....  The  book  may  be  heartily  com- 
mended to  every  reader  of  taste,  and  to  every  admirer 
of  graceful  and  nervous  English. — Saturday  Evening 
Gazette,  Boston. 

"Waste-Land  "Wanderings.      By  CHARLES  C. 

Abbott,  M.D,    i2mo.  Cloth,  $1  50. 

There  is  a  freshness  about  his  anecdotes  of  fishes 
and  birds,  and  his  descriptions  of  unfamiliar  scenery, 
that  must  make  the  book  delightful  to  every  lover  of 
similar  sports.  To  those  who  have  not  the  leisure 
nor  the  enterprise  for  similar  expeditions  the  reading 
of  it  will  charm  many  an  idle  hour,  besides  imparting 
in  the  most  agreeable  manner  possible  a  large  fund  of 
interesting  information. — St.  Louis  Republican. 

It  is  a  charming  book,  introducing  the  reader  to  the 
interesting  guests  and  dwellers  in  the  forests,  upon 
the  downs,  and  by  the  river-side.  All  lovers  of  nat- 
ure will  find  an  abundant  source  of  instruction  and 
pleasure  in  it. — Zions  Herald,  Boston. 


PubKshed  by  HAKPEE  &  BEOTHEES,  NewTork. 

^S^  Either  of  the  above  works  will  be  sent  by  mail,  post- 
age prepaid,  to  any  part  of  tlu  United  States,  Canada,  or 
Mexico,  on  receipt  of  the  price. 


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